Alphabet (Google)-owned autonomous transportation technology company Waymo has raised $16 billion in a new round of funding as it expands its self-driving taxi fleet internationally. The company plans to launch in more than a dozen new cities around the world this year, including London and Tokyo.
The investment round was led by Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global and Sequoia Capital. The round valued Waymo at $126 billion. Parent company Alphabet (Google) also backed the funding, retaining its majority shareholder position in Waymo.
The round also included large investments from Andreessen Horowitz and Mubadala Capital, as well as Bessemer Venture Partners, Silver Lake, Tiger Global and T. Rowe Price. Other investors include BDT & MSD Partners, CapitalG, Fidelity Management & Research Company, GV, Kleiner Perkins, Perry Creek Capital and Temasek.
Waymo said the investment will be used to continue the growth it has seen over the past year and expand its robo-taxi services into new markets. The company recently received a permit to operate to and from San Francisco International Airport, and has expanded its operations throughout Northern California, as well as in major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, Austin, and Miami.
Formerly known as Google’s self-driving car project, Waymo has been testing autonomous driving technologies in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area for many years. In 2016, the company made its first major geographic expansion, beginning testing in Phoenix, where safety drivers were later removed from the cars entirely. Phoenix was Waymo’s first robo-taxi market, where the public could order driverless taxis.
In August 2023, Waymo received its final permit to operate a paid robo-taxi service in California, accelerating its operations significantly. The company first launched limited service in San Francisco, and later expanded to the Bay Area, Silicon Valley, and the highways connecting those areas. In 2025, it launched in Austin and Atlanta, in partnership with Uber, and in early 2026, in Miami.
Waymo currently provides about 400,000 weekly rides in six major U.S. metropolitan areas. According to the company, the number of annual rides more than tripled in 2025 alone, reaching 15 million. The total number of rides exceeded 20 million.
The company said in an official blog post:
“We are no longer just proving the concept. We are scaling to commercial reality and laying the groundwork for ride-hailing services in more than 20 additional cities, including Tokyo and London, by 2026.”
At the same time, Waymo’s rapid expansion has also increased criticism and government oversight. Some robo-taxis have been reported to be exhibiting unsafe behavior, especially in school zones. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have opened investigations into violations of school bus safety regulations. Most recently, a Waymo robotaxi struck a child near a school. The child suffered minor injuries during the incident, and the vehicle was traveling at about 6 mph (10 km/h).
