Waymo on Tuesday 12 May’20, said that it has raised another roughly $750 million for its self-driving technology, expanding the size of its first external investment round to $3 billion.
Why it matters: With the coronavirus pandemic likely to speed consolidation among self-driving tech firms, investors are lining up behind companies they see as the most likely winners.
- Until early March, when it announced a $2.25 billion financing round, Waymo had been funded entirely by Google and its corporate parent, Alphabet.
- The latest investors include T. Rowe Price, Perry Creek Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and others.
- They join Silver Lake, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Mubadala Investment Company, Magna International, Andreessen Horowitz and AutoNation, who participated in the March 2 round.
The bottom line: Waymo CEO John Krafcik tells Axios the pandemic has underscored how fully self-driving technology can provide safe and hygienic personal mobility and delivery services.
