Waymo, the Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company, has raised $16 billion in a new investment round that values the business at $126 billion post-money, underscoring strong investor confidence in the commercial scaling of autonomous driving technology.
The financing was led by Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, and Sequoia Capital, with Alphabet remaining a majority investor. The round also included significant investments from Andreessen Horowitz and Mubadala Capital, alongside participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price.
Additional investors included BDT & MSD Partners, CapitalG, Fidelity Management & Research Company, GV, Kleiner Perkins, Perry Creek Capital, and Temasek.
Waymo’s operating scale has accelerated rapidly. In 2025, the company more than tripled its annual ride volume to 15 million rides, surpassing 20 million lifetime rides. It now provides over 400,000 rides per week across six major U.S. metropolitan areas.
Commenting on the investment, Konstantine Buhler, Partner at Sequoia, 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 is an exceptional business, leveraging its compounding data advantage to usher in a new era of transportation and a safety culture that can save millions of lives. We’re excited to partner with Tekedra, Dmitri and team as they expand the magic of the Waymo Driver to 20 additional cities and beyond.”
Saurabh Gupta, co-founder of DST Global, added:
“Waymo has brought autonomous driving from science fiction to reality. It’s saving lives already, with significantly fewer serious injury crashes compared to human drivers. As it scales in 2026 and beyond, Waymo will boost productivity and accessibility for millions while improving road safety worldwide. Autonomous driving, led by Waymo, will have a profound impact on how we live and work, including reimagining cities. We are excited to partner with Tekedra, Dmitri and the Waymo team to be a part of this future.”
Jared Middleman, Partner at Dragoneer, said:
“Dragoneer partners with a small number of companies that can fundamentally transform the world through category-defining technology and products. Waymo has not only taught a car to drive itself, but to do so meaningfully better than any human or competing system, and we believe that lead will endure. We have studied autonomous driving for over a decade and could not be more excited to back Tekedra, Dmitri, the formidable engineering team, and the entire Waymo organization, who are poised to permanently change how people and goods move through communities around the globe. The technology is extraordinary, the opportunity is vast, and we believe an exciting future is coming where Waymo will provide the safer and more convenient choice for families everywhere.”
The funding positions Waymo to accelerate expansion into additional cities while continuing to advance its autonomous driving platform amid growing competition and regulatory scrutiny across the global transportation market.
