Prime Highlights:
- Toronto-based Waabi secures up to $1 billion in funding and signs a major partnership with Uber to deploy 25,000 robotaxis.
- Waabi expands beyond self-driving trucks, aiming to quickly roll out passenger robotaxis in multiple markets.
Key Facts:
- The funding includes a $750 million Series C round led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners, with an additional $250 million from Uber tied to the rollout.
- Waabi’s trucks currently operate with safety drivers, with full autonomous operations expected once the system is fully tested.
Background:
Toronto-based Waabi has raised up to $1 billion in a major funding round and partnered with Uber to launch at least 25,000 robotaxis, marking a big step beyond its earlier focus on self-driving trucks.
The funding includes a $750 million Series C round led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners, plus an additional $250 million from Uber tied to the robotaxi rollout. This fundraising is reportedly the largest in Canadian history. Other participants in the round include Nvidia’s venture arm NVentures, Volvo Group Venture Capital, Porsche, BlackRock, Radical Ventures, and a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Waabi’s CEO, Raquel Urtasun, who founded the company in 2021 and previously led Uber’s autonomous vehicle research lab, emphasized that the expansion into robotaxis is not a pivot. “The same AI technology that powers our trucks will also run our robotaxis. Our platform is designed to work across vehicle types and driving conditions,” she said.
The partnership with Uber is a major move in the growing robotaxi market, which includes companies like Waymo, Tesla, and Wayve. Waabi and Uber haven’t revealed where or when the robotaxis will launch, but Urtasun said the rollout will happen faster than most people expect.
Prior to this expansion, Waabi had focused on autonomous trucking, integrating its AI software with Volvo’s autonomous trucks in Texas and at sites in Norway and Sweden. The trucks are currently driven by safety drivers, and fully self-driving operations will start once everything is fully tested.
Uber has been actively forming partnerships with AV 2.0 startups, providing both funding and deployment opportunities. The deal with Waabi is part of a broader strategy to grow Uber’s robotaxi offerings across multiple cities and markets.
Investors praised Waabi’s approach. Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures said the company’s technology is a “major step forward” in self-driving vehicles, highlighting its fast progress in trucking and moving into robotaxis.
With this funding and partnership, Waabi is set to become a key player in the self-driving vehicle industry, expanding both commercial trucking and passenger robotaxis.