Alphabet-owned Waymo is in talks to lift $15 billion in funding

Waymo (LR) Co-CEOs: Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov

Waymo

Self-driving car maker Waymo is in talks to raise $15 billion in the new year.

The robotaxi company wants to raise billions alphabetits parent company, as well as outside investors valued at up to $110 billion, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

Recent funding discussions show Waymo is the frontrunner in the US robotaxi market. The company has invested a lot of money in expanding its fleet and further expanding into additional regions. Waymo is currently either operating, planning to launch, or beginning testing its robotaxis in 26 markets in the U.S. and abroad.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said Waymo will make a “meaningful” contribution to Alphabet’s finances as early as 2027, CNBC reported Tuesday.

If the Google sister company ends up raising up to $15 billion, that would be more than double the amount of the last financing round. This was a $5.6 billion Series C round at a $45 billion valuation that closed in October 2024. At that time, Alphabet had promised Waymo a multi-year investment of $5 billion.

This round was led by Alphabet along with previous backers including Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global and T. Rowe Price. At the time, Waymo co-CEOs Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov said the funding would go toward expanding its robotaxi service.

Waymo currently offers paid rides to the public in the Austin, San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Atlanta and Los Angeles markets.

Earlier this month, CNBC reported that Waymo was making an estimated 450,000 weekly paid rides, and the company said in December that it had made 14 million rides in 2025, putting it on track to end the year with more than 20 million total rides since launching in 2020.

The company plans to open services in Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego and Washington, DC next year. Waymo also announced plans to launch its service in London in 2026, which will mark the company’s first overseas service region.

Amazon’s Zoox began offering free driverless rides to the public around the Las Vegas Strip and certain San Francisco neighborhoods this year. Tesla launched a service under the Robotaxi brand in Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area, but those cars still had human drivers or safety officers on board in mid-December.

The fundraising plans were first reported by Bloomberg.

REGARD: 2025: The year the robotaxi went mainstream with Waymo at the helm