Waymo Raises $5.5 Billion. Plus: $318 Million for Flying Taxis

05.11.2024 - 21:03 / skift.com / Justin Dawes

Robo-taxis, flying taxis, electric planes, and renewable jet fuel. Next-generation mobility is the theme in this startup funding roundup.

The most notable fundraise was $5.5 billion by Waymo, which is expanding robotaxis across the U.S.. The startup has already been operating the service within San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, as well as curbside pickup at the Sky Harbor International Airport. And the startup says its driverless cars could go on road trips in the future.

Beta Technologies, among the multiple players developing flyings taxis, raised $318 million. It’s the second-largest raise in that sector this year, the highest being $500 million for Joby Aviation last month.

Aside from those two big fundraises, eight other travel startups raised over $160 million in the past three weeks.

Waymo, which operates an autonomous ride hailing service in U.S. cities, has raised $5.5 billion in an oversubscribed round of funding. 

Alphabet (parent company of Google) led the round, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price.

Waymo’s cars operate without a driver, using an AI driving system that the startup has been developing since 2009. The company was born as a project by Google before spinning out. 

Through a partnership with Uber, the company will begin serving Austin and Atlanta.

The funds will also support advancements in the Waymo Driver, Waymo’s autonomous driving system designed for various commercial applications.

The company has been experimenting with more complex trips, like road trips to cities including Buffalo, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Beta Technologies, which is developing two types of electric aircraft, has raised $318 million in series C funding. 

QIA led the round, with support from Fidelity Management & Research Company, TPG Rise Climate, United Therapeutics, and others.

The company has now raised more than $1 billion in equity capital.

The Vermont-based company is developing two electric aircrafts, one that takes off vertically and one that takes off conventionally. It’s targeting the commercial and cargo industries. 

It recently completed a series of test flights, including between the JFK and LGA airports in New York City.

The company last year opened a nearly 200,000 square foot manufacturing facility, which it says has capacity to produce up to 300 aircraft per year. Production has begun, with plans to increase production rates over the next two years. 

The company has purchasing contracts with Air New Zealand, UPS, United Therapeutics, Blade Urban Air Mobility, Bristow, Helijet, LCI, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Army.

It has also built a charging system for electric aircraft, with plans to