Alphabet's Waymo in Talks Over $15B Funding Round at Valuation Above $100B

Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving car subsidiary, is in early discussions with potential investors about a new funding round that could value the company at more than $100B, according to multiple media reports citing people familiar with the matter.

The talks are at a preliminary stage, with the size of the round expected to run into several billions of dollars, potentially exceeding $15B.

The proposed financing has not been finalised, and neither the valuation nor the structure of the round has been set. The funding is expected to be arranged in early 2026 if discussions progress. Alphabet, which controls Waymo, is reported to be closely involved and may lead the round, though this has not been formally confirmed.

A valuation above $100B would represent a sharp step up from Waymo’s last funding round in October 2024, when it raised $5.6B at a valuation of $45B from a group of investors that included Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global and Fidelity.

Since then, Waymo has continued to expand its commercial operations without raising additional external capital during the recent surge in AI-related investment.

Waymo operates paid robotaxi services without safety drivers in several US cities and is currently the only company offering such services at scale in the country.

The company has said its vehicles have completed 14 million paid rides so far this year, with a goal of reaching one million rides per week by late 2026 as it expands into new markets including Philadelphia, Miami and Dallas, and extends operations onto freeways.

The new capital, if raised, would support further geographic expansion, fleet growth and continued development of autonomous driving technology. While autonomous driving remains capital-intensive, Waymo has begun to show signs of commercial traction.

According to people familiar with the business, the company has quietly built an annual revenue run rate of more than $350M, reflecting the growing scale of its paid robotaxi operations. That progress has helped shift perceptions of Waymo from a long-running and costly experiment to one of the most credible commercial players in autonomous mobility, even as profitability remains a longer-term goal.

Sources:
Reuters
The Information
Tech Funding News
CNBC

J.V.