Alphabet’s self-driving car unit, Waymo, announced that it has raised $2.25 billion from investors, including Silicon Valley private equity and venture firms Silver Lake Partners and Andreessen Horowitz. Other investors include the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Mubadala Investment, which is based in Abu Dhabi. Waymo is emerging as the perceived leader in autonomous technology accelerates. The investment announcement may point towards Waymo’s splitting from Alphabet.
Waymo’s partners for vehicle assembly operations and maintenance services Magna International and AutoNation also participated in the round alongside Alphabet. The massive investment total is somewhat surprising as the project has been, until now, fully funded by Google as it is the commercial successor to the Google Self Driving Car project. Waymo currently generates just a small amount of revenue form the Waymo One ride service in suburban Phoenix. Waymo also recently announced that it had launched a paid logistics pilot with UPS in Phoenix.
Read More: Waymo Raises $2.25 Billion In First Funding Round With Non-Alphabet Backers
