Waabi Robotaxis, What? – CleanTechnica

Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.


Or support our Kickstarter campaign!

Just when you thought you knew all the robotaxi startups out there and the door was closing for any new entrants, here’s another one! And it’s coming in with a bang! Maybe some of you had spotted Waabi already, but I certainly hadn’t. The news today, though, is this robotaxi startup has raised $1 billion and has partnered with Uber to deploy 25,000 robotaxis with the popular ride-hailing platform.

So far, this company has been focused on self-driving trucks, not cars. However, the Toronto-based company is getting $250 million from Uber as part of a $750 million funding round, and Uber is also providing $250 million to help the AI-focused startup expand from self-driving trucks into robotaxis. Overall, Waabi has gotten a $3 billion valuation through this funding round.

“The two companies are aiming to deploy at least 25,000 vehicles equipped with Waabi’s sensor kit on Uber’s ride-hailing network,” FT reports.

“Waabi’s expanded focus on robotaxis marks an important milestone for their team and the [autonomous vehicle] industry more broadly,” noted Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

Of course, Uber has been deploying a multi-partner approach to robotaxis. It has partnered with Waymo in some cities, and Baidu in others. It has also invested in Wayve.

Waabi is also looking to partner with automakers to help them develop self-driving vehicles for the consumer market.

“We’ve seen an evolution from the [car manufacturers] wanting to develop their own technology to a realisation that they should partner with an [autonomous vehicle] provider,” Raquel Urtasun, founder of Waabi and former head of research at Uber’s Autonomous Technologies Group, said. “There might be a few who are trying to do their own solution, but there are very few.”

It’s becoming an interesting year for autonomous vehicles. Let’s see what’s next.