Waymo has completed a $16bn financing round that values the autonomous driving company at $126bn on a post-money basis.
The investment was led by Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global and Sequoia Capital.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Its parent Alphabet remains the largest shareholder, while Andreessen Horowitz and Mubadala Capital also participated.
Other backers included Bessemer Venture Partners, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, T Rowe Price, BDT & MSD Partners, CapitalG, Fidelity Management & Research Company, GV, Kleiner Perkins, Perry Creek Capital and Temasek.
The company said it intends to begin ride-hailing services in over 20 additional cities in 2026, including Tokyo and London, and cited its recent entry into Miami as part of a wider rollout.
Waymo added that the fresh capital would be directed towards international expansion while preserving existing safety standards, including growing its fleet and hiring staff as it moves into new US and overseas markets.
In its announcement, Waymo said: “This infusion of capital will ensure we are positioned to move forward with unprecedented velocity, while maintaining our industry-leading safety standards. Our focus is now on global scale, bringing the safety and magic of the Waymo Driver to even more cities this year across the US and internationally.”
The company highlighted safety data from 127 million miles of fully autonomous driving, stating it had achieved “a 90% reduction in serious injury crashes” compared with human driving.
Waymo reported strong growth in 2025, when it more than tripled annual volume to 15 million rides and exceeded 20 million lifetime journeys.
It now provides more than 400,000 rides a week across six major US metropolitan areas.
Sequoia partner Konstantine Buhler said: “As a technology leader in the trillion-dollar transportation market, Waymo has moved beyond research milestones to achieve operational excellence, tripling its weekly paid rides in just one year while maintaining customer delight.”
Waymo’s previous capital raise in October 2024, led by Alphabet, valued the business at more than $45bn.
The funding also comes as rivalry in the driverless ride-hailing market is growing.
Tesla is preparing to launch its own service and has started limited operations without safety drivers in Austin.
Amazon’s Zoox has rolled out custom-built robotaxis lacking driver controls along the Las Vegas Strip and is testing vehicles in areas near San Francisco.
