The former Google self-driving car project run by Waymo, is now it’s own business under Alphabet and has raised $2.25 billion in fundraising.
Led by Silver Lake, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Mubadala Investment Company, this is to be the company’s first external investment.
“We’ve always approached our mission as a team sport, collaborating with our OEM and supplier partners, our operations partners, and the communities we serve to build and deploy the world’s most experienced driver,” said Waymo CEO John Krafcik.
“Today, we’re expanding that team, adding financial investors and important strategic partners who bring decades of experience investing in and supporting successful technology companies building transformative products.”
“With this injection of capital and business acumen, alongside Alphabet, we’ll deepen our investment in our people, our technology, and our operations, all in support of the deployment of the Waymo Driver around the world.”
The funding round is following a very high interest in the industry for the self-driving vehicles. From General Motor’s and also Bosch working with Mercedes Benz.
Waymo is looking to eventually launch as a ride hailing service, using the self-driving cars round Phoenix and surrounding suburbs.
That’s not all though as Waymo have other plans for the future including a focus on finding new business applications for its autonomous vehicle technology; delivery services, trucks and even sales of its custom lidar sensors, which would be to companies working in robotics, security and agricultural technology.
Waymo has also been acquiring, just last year U.K. company Latent Logic was taken into the Alphabet umbrella.
Latent Logic specializes on a form of machine learning, which is called imitation learning, a way for Waymo to beef up the simulation efforts.
Waymo are also working with Renault and Nissan, in researching commercial autonomous vehicles for France and Japan.
