Robotaxi pioneer Waymo raises $16 billion to accelerate expansion plans

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE

Robotaxi pioneer Waymo has raised another $16 billion to help fuel its ambition for its fleet of self-driving cars to provide rides throughout the world while other deep-pocketed rival services backed by Tesla and Amazon try to catch up.

The fundraising announced Monday values Waymo at $126 billion.

The appraisal underscores investors’ desire to own a piece of the rapidly expanding robotaxi market, as well as how far Waymo has come since starting as a “moonshot” project within Google 17 years ago.