Alphabet’s Waymo raises funds worth $2.25Bn from outside investors

Waymo, Google’s self-driving car project, for the first time has raised funds from outside investors which is reported to be worth US$2.25 billion. As per reports, the funding round saw active participation from VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Silver Lake. Notably, Waymo had never reported its financial results. Experts believe that Alphabet had incurred billions dollars’ worth of loss as Waymo refined its technology. However, Alphabet now has partners to incur this financial loss. Sources cite that Waymo is supposedly shadowing the moves of its two biggest rivals, namely Fords Argo and GMs Cruise. Apparently, from all of its three funding rounds, Cruise has managed to secure over $3 billion from T. Rowe Price, Softbank, Honda, and its parent firm GM. Meanwhile, Honda’s investment has strengthened an alliance that could see Honda implementing Cruises self-driving tech in its upcoming variants down the line. Whereas Fords self-driving firm, Argo cracked a similar deal with the German automaker Volkswagen in 2019. Reportedly, VW would invest almost $1 billion to back the development of self-driving technology of Agro. Moreover, the automaker has merged its self-driving subsidiary with Argo, making this move a small section of the overall spectrum of the technology-sharing alliance between VW and Ford. As for Waymo, the recent funding round failed to record the presence of major automakers, however, the company plans to solidify its relations with its existing business partners through the fundraising round. Earlier in 2019, Waymo had partnered with Magna, a Canadian automobile component supplier. As per reports, Magna would help Waymo develop its self-driving vehicle in Michigan. Moreover, Waymo has been developing a working relation with AutoNation, a prominent auto parts seller. Apparently, AutoNation helps Waymo to repair and maintain its vehicles. Source Credit: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/03/alphabets-waymo-accepts-outside-money-as-it-raises-2-25-billion/