Self Driving Car Company Waymo Raises $2.25 Billion in First External Funding Round

The self-driving car unit of Alphabet, Waymo, has raised a staggering $2.25 billion in its first external investment round.

The company announced the news on Monday, with the funding round being led by investment firms like Silver Lake. “Waymo is the proven leader in self-driving technology, is the only autonomous vehicle company with a public ride-hailing service, and is successfully scaling its fully driverless experience,” said Egon Durban, Co-CEO, Silver Lake, and nominee for Waymo’s Operating Board. “We’re deeply aligned with Waymo’s commitment to making our roads safer, and look forward to working together to help advance and scale the Waymo Driver in the U.S. and beyond.”

The funding additionally comes from firms Andreessen Horowitz, AutoNation and Alphabet.

“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 John Krafcik, CEO of Waymo in a blog post.

“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.

The funding will be used for hiring employees, and investments in technology and global operations, the company stated. Waymo said its driving technology has accrued more than 20 million miles on public roads and 10 billion simulated miles.

Waymo wrote in its blog post, “We’re grateful for all our new partners who have joined us on our mission of making it safe and easy for people and things to get where they’re going.”