TechCrunch Mobility: Is $16 billion enough to build a profitable robotaxi business?

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WaymoThere is no denying that the pace of growth has accelerated over the past eighteen months. The Alphabet-owned self-driving company now operates commercial robotaxi services in six markets, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, and Miami. The company plans to grow its fleet of self-driving taxis this year to include more than a dozen new cities internationally, including London and Tokyo.

And now it happened 16 billion dollars To fuel this expansion. Is it enough?

When speaking to a few industry observers, the answer remained in the area of ​​“kind of” and “it depends.”

First, the issue of the bull. It’s clear that Alphabet is committed to ensuring Waymo’s success; The parent company is, and remains, the main investor. Which means Waymo hasn’t been exposed like other AV startups that suddenly lost funding after their backers (often legacy automakers) became skittish or pivoted.

Self-driving ridership and mileage statistics are also exploding and are likely to continue on that path unless regulators derail them. (Waymo provides 400,000 rides per week across six major U.S. metropolitan areas, and in 2025 alone, its annual volume more than tripled to 15 million rides.)

However, this does not guarantee success, especially if the metric is set to profitability. Waymo still has many issues to resolve, including cost and growing interest from regulators (the company’s chief safety officer just testified at a panel). Senate Commerce Hearing). If Waymo wants to simply be the licensor of its autonomous vehicle technology, it will have to move away from being the operator, which means giving up some control. This is difficult with emerging technology that is under scrutiny.

And while some of you will fight me about this, it also lacks the in-house manufacturing for it Tesla He has. Yes, Waymo has automotive partners. But it doesn’t come with the same financial clout or ability to cut costs on a large scale.

Disagree? Send your argument to my email at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com.

birdie

The investors behind the EV startup now Kano It was always mysterious – in fact, it was only revealed as part of a lawsuit. Six years ago, I was advised to consider one in particular: David Stern. He had connections to Prince Andrew but he was a ghost.

It was on my mind, however, when the Justice Department began releasing its files Jeffrey Epstein. My curiosity about whether it would appear in the documents was quickly overtaken by the fact that he was, in fact, a close business associate of the convicted sex offender. He brought Epstein investment opportunities from around the world, and specifically advised him to invest in them Faraday future, Lucid Motorsand Canoo during commuting days to finance commuting. Read my story About Stern and Epstein’s relationship and how mobility startups were in the mix.

– Sean O’Kane

Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosek at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com Or my Signal at kkorosec.07, or email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.

Offers!

Self-driving vehicle technology is more than just robotaxis, it is a difficult and expensive business that only a few well-capitalized companies like. tesla, Waymo, and Zoox They follow. Many startup founders are applying the autonomous vehicle systems they have developed to other use cases, including off-road defense, trucking, forklifts, mining, and construction. Investors, concerned about missing out on autonomous car companies, are jumping into these sectors.

Bedrock Robots It is the latest example of investor interest. The Silicon Valley self-driving vehicle technology startup, founded by Waymo and Segment veterans, is developing a self-driving system that can be retrofitted into construction equipment. It just raised $270 million in Series B funding co-led by CapitalG and the Valor Atreides AI Fund. Other investors include Xora, 8VC, Eclipse, Emergence Capital, Perry Creek Capital, NVentures (Nvidia’s venture capital arm), Tishman Speyer, MIT, Georgian, Incharge Capital, C4 Ventures, and others.

Bedrock has raised more than $350 million in a short time (the company was founded in 2024). While this may not seem like a lot compared to the size of some seed rounds in the AI ​​lab sector, it shows that money is flowing into AI startups. I expect more deal flow. More importantly, I expect startups to focus on practical applications of automated driving systems to attract talent – ​​if they can afford it. For example, Bedrock has appointed Vincent Junget, who previously led Meta’s AI safety and alignment for all Llama models, as head of evaluation. It also hired John Chu away from Waymo.

Stay tuned for my interview with the Co-Founder and CEO of Bedrock Robotics Boris Sofman.

Other deals that caught my attention this week…

German electric motor manufacturer Added engines It raised 25 million euros ($29.5 million) from Nordic Alpha Partners.

Start-up of autonomous underwater vehicles Aperon Laboratories It closed on $9.5 million The Series A round was led by Dyne Ventures, RA Capital Management Planetary Health and S2G Investments. Assembly Ventures, Bay Bridge Ventures, and TFX Capital participated.

GoCabthe African mobility fintech startup, It raised $45 million The financing round includes $15 million in equity and $30 million in debt. The equity round was jointly led by E3 Capital and Jannago Capital, with participation from KawiSafi Ventures and Cur8 Capital.

Mitra I.Va commercial electric vehicle fleet company in Los Angeles, It raised $27 million In financing, including equity financing from lead investor Ultra Capital and a credit facility from S2G Investments.

Overland to Amnesty Internationala Seattle-based developer of autonomous driving systems designed for military operations, It raised $100 million On a tour led by 8VC. Other investors include Point72 Ventures, Ascend Venture Capital, Shasta Ventures, Overmatch Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, and StepStone Group.

stopperused electric car market, It raised $20 million The Series A was led by Lightspeed with participation from Galvanize and existing investors Autotech Ventures, Leap Forward Ventures and Renn Global.

R3 robotsa European startup that wants to automate the process of dismantling electric vehicle systems on a large scale, It raised 20 million euros ($23.6 million) in a combination of grants and project funding. The €14 million ($16.5 million) Series A funding was led by HG Ventures and Suma Capital. The Oetker Collection, the European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund) and existing shareholders, including BONVENTURE, FlixFounders and EIT Urban Mobility, also participated.

In sectionsEl Seigno, based on 300 million dollars Its Series C investment round, led by Autopilot Ventures, pushed its valuation to $1.15 billion. Other investors include Fidelity Management & Research Company, ArrowMark Partners, Atreides Management LP, BAM Elevate, Baron Capital Group, Durable Capital Partners, Positive Sum, Qatar Investment Authority, RCM Private Markets Fund managed by Rokos Capital Management, and Woodline Partners.

Notable Readings and Other Stories

China He has Forbidden Electronically operated hidden door handles popularized by Tesla. The ruling, published by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, says all new cars sold in the country must have mechanical releases on their door handles by January 1, 2027. There are talks Europe could soon follow.

Uber It continues to take steps aimed at making it competitive in the autonomous vehicle sector. Company Promoted Balaji KrishnamurthyVice President of Strategic Finance and Investor Relations, to be its Chief Financial Officer. This may not seem related to autonomous vehicles, but it is. Krishnamurthy actively promotes the company’s independent passenger transportation partnerships and also holds a seat on the Board of Directors of AV Waabi. During the company’s Q4 call, he talked about autonomous vehicles, saying the company will invest capital in its partners in autonomous vehicle programs, work with autonomous vehicle makers through equity investment or through offtake agreements, and “support our partners in autonomous vehicle infrastructure.”

Meanwhile, a high-profile lawsuit against Uber It handed down a mixed verdict for the ride-hailing company, which was sued after a woman claimed she was raped by her Uber driver in November 2023. The jury decided Uber was liable as a clear agent of the driver and awarded the plaintiff $8.5 million. The jury rejected claims that Uber was liable for negligence or design defects and declined to award punitive damages. An Uber spokesperson, who emailed a statement to TechCrunch, said, “The ruling confirms that Uber acted responsibly and invested meaningfully in rider safety. We will continue to put safety at the heart of everything we do.” Uber plans to appeal the decision.

Another thing…

Last week in our newsletter, we ran a poll asking about a name or bar Elon MuskIt should be a compact giant. Thanks to those who emailed in their suggestions, many of which were space-themed, such as Galactic X (great idea). As for the poll, the majority chose X.

This makes sense, since Musk has often talked and posted about X, the everything app. About 50% voted for X, while 20.7% chose ELON, 17.2% chose SpaceAI, and 12.1% chose K2, referring to A legal entity Created in January.

optional? I think it will eventually be X, and the company will include more than just SpaceX and xAI.

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