Insider Brief
- Waabi has raised $750 million in an oversubscribed Series C round and entered an exclusive partnership with Uber to deploy Waabi-powered robotaxis on Uber’s platform, with Uber committing an additional $250 million in milestone-based investment.
- The round, co-led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners, is intended to support Waabi’s autonomous trucking business while financing its expansion into robotaxis.
- Waabi said its Physical AI system can operate on highways and surface streets and will be used across both trucks and robotaxis, with the Uber partnership targeting deployment of at least 25,000 robotaxis over time, though no launch timeline or markets were disclosed.
Waabi announced it has raised $750 million in an oversubscribed Series C round and struck a partnership with Uber to deploy robotaxis powered by its autonomous driving system exclusively on Uber’s platform.
The financing, co-led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners, is the largest private funding round in Canadian history, according to Waabi. The company said the capital, combined with the additional $250 million conditional investment commitment from Uber, will support continued development of its autonomous trucking business and fund its entry into robotaxis, with Uber serving as its initial deployment partner.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Waabi founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun acknowledged the additional funding from Uber will be contingent on the Canadian company achieving certain undisclosed “milestones” set by Uber.
“But those are simple milestones that, you know, we can achieve quickly,” Urtasun said.
Founded in 2021, Waabi has positioned itself around what it calls a “Physical AI” approach to autonomy. According to Waabi, its technology is designed to generalize across vehicle types, operating environments, and geographies, allowing the same underlying driving system to be applied to both long-haul trucks and passenger vehicles.
“Waabi’s Physical AI Platform has enabled us to hit an industry-leading pace in the development and commercialization of autonomous trucks over the past few years,” Urtasun said in the announcement. “Our current self-driving capabilities across highways and generalized surface streets have unlocked a new direct-to-customer model that for the first time solves the pain points of the industry, and provides an unprecedented opportunity to quickly and seamlessly enter the robotaxi market, delivering a truly scalable solution for both verticals.”
Waabi said its system is already capable of operating on highways and surface streets, supporting a direct-to-customer model for autonomous trucking and laying the groundwork for expansion into urban robotaxi services.
Waabi said it will work exclusively with Uber on robotaxi deployment, with the ridesharing company committing additional capital tied to technical and operational milestones. Under the agreement, Waabi and Uber plan to deploy at least 25,000 robotaxis over time, though no launch timeline or initial markets were disclosed.
Waabi said the partnership reflects growing confidence in the maturity of its autonomous driving system and provides a clear commercial pathway for robotaxis by leveraging Uber’s existing platform, fleet management capabilities, and demand network. For Uber, the deal adds another autonomous vehicle partner as the company continues to pursue a platform strategy rather than developing its own self-driving technology in-house.
Beyond the lead investors, Waabi said its Series C round included strategic participation from Uber, NVIDIA’s venture arm NVentures, Volvo Group Venture Capital, and Porsche Automobil Holding SE, as well as financial investors including BlackRock, Radical Ventures, HarbourVest Partners, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Linse Capital, and Incharge Capital. Canadian investors participating in the round included BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund, Export Development Canada, TELUS Global Ventures, and BMO Global Asset Management.
“Waabi’s expanded focus on robotaxis marks an important milestone for their team and the AV industry more broadly,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber. “We’re very excited to deepen our partnership with Waabi as they significantly scale their Physical AI Platform and enter a new phase of an already remarkable journey.”
Waabi said it will continue to prioritize autonomous trucking, where it sees near-term commercial opportunities, while using robotaxis as a second application of the same core technology. The company did not provide revenue figures or commercialization timelines but said the combined funding and Uber partnership position it to scale both businesses in parallel.
