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

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your central hub for news and insight on the future of transportation. To receive this content in your inbox, sign up for free here. Just click on TechCrunch Mobility!

waymoThe acceleration over the last 18 months is undeniable. The Alphabet-owned self-driving company currently operates commercial robotaxi services in six markets: the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Austin, Atlanta, and Miami. This year, the company plans to expand driverless taxis to more than a dozen new cities around the world, including London and Tokyo.

And it now takes $16 billion to fuel that expansion. Is it enough?

In speaking with several industry observers, the answers kept being in the “sort of” and “depends” areas.

First, the bull incident. Alphabet is clearly committed to ensuring Waymo’s success. The parent company is and continues to be a major investor. This means Waymo isn’t exposed like other AV startups that suddenly lose funding after their backers (often legacy automakers) are capricious or pivot.

Ridership and autonomous driving mileage statistics are also exploding and will likely continue on that trajectory unless regulators derail it. (Waymo provides 400,000 rides per week across six major metropolitan areas in the U.S., with annual volume more than tripling to 15 million by 2025 alone.)

However, this does not guarantee success. This is especially true if the gauge is set to Profitability. Waymo still has to address a number of challenges, including costs and increased attention from regulators (the company’s chief safety officer just testified at a Senate Commerce hearing). If Waymo wants to simply become a licensor of AV technology, it would have to step away from its operator role, which would mean giving up some control. It is difficult with nascent technologies to be scrutinized.

And some of you will argue with me on this, but it also lacks internal manufacturing. tesla have. Yes, Waymo has automotive partners. However, the financial leverage or ability to reduce costs is not the same at scale.

Isn’t that right? Please send your claims to my email: kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com.

dickey

Investors in now-defunct EV startups canoe It’s always been a mystery. In fact, it was only made public as part of the lawsuit. Six years ago, I was advised to look into one in particular. David Stern. He had a connection to Prince Andrew, but other than that he was a ghost.

But as the Justice Department began releasing its files, I kept him in mind. Jeffrey Epstein. My curiosity to see if he would appear in the documents was quickly overtaken by the fact that he was in fact a close business partner of a convicted sex offender. He brought Epstein investment opportunities from around the world and advised him on investments in the following areas in particular: faraday future, Lucid Motorsand Canoo while mobility funding is underway. Read my story about Stern and Epstein’s relationship and how mobility startups were once in the mix.

— Sean O’Kane

Do you have any tips? Email Kirsten Korosec. kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com Or send my Signal to kkorosec.07 or email Sean O’Kane. sean.okane@techcrunch.com.

Special price!

Self-driving car technology is more than just robotaxi. This is a difficult and expensive business that only a few well-capitalized companies can undertake. tesla, waymo, and Zoox I am pursuing it. Many startup founders are applying the AV systems they develop to other use cases, including off-road defense, trucking, forklifts, mining, and construction. Investors who are anxious about missing out on the AV party are jumping into these areas.

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

Bedrock has raised over $350 million in a short period of time (the company was founded in 2024). This may not seem like much compared to the size of some seed rounds in the AI ​​lab sector, but it shows that money is flowing into real AI startups. I expect more deal flow. Importantly, we expect startups focused on real-world applications of autonomous driving systems to attract talent if they can afford it. For example, Bedrock hired Vincent Gonguet, who previously led AI safety and alignment for all Llama models at Meta, as head of evaluation. We also hired John Chu from Waymo.

Stay tuned for our interview with the co-founder and CEO of Bedrock Robotics Boris Sofman.

Other deals that caught my attention this week…

German electric motor manufacturer additional drive It raised €25 million ($29.5 million) from Nordic Alpha Partners.

Autonomous underwater vehicle startup Apayron Institute It closed a $9.5 million Series A round led by Dyne Ventures, RA Capital Management Planetary Health and S2G Investments. Assembly Ventures, Bay Bridge Ventures, and TFX Capital participated.

Gocapan African mobility fintech startup, has raised a $45 million funding round consisting of $15 million in equity and $30 million in debt. The equity round was co-led by E3 Capital and Janngo Capital, with participation from KawiSafi Ventures and Cur8 Capital.

Mitra EVa Los Angeles-based commercial EV vehicle company, has raised $27 million in funding, including equity funding from lead investor Ultra Capital and a credit facility from S2G Investments.

Overland AIa Seattle-based developer of autonomous driving systems for military operations, raised $100 million in a round led by 8VC. Other investors include Point72 Ventures, Ascend Venture Capital, Shasta Ventures, Overmatch Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, and StepStone Group.

pluga used EV marketplace, has raised $20 million in a Series A led by Lightspeed, with participation from Galvanize and existing investors Autotech Ventures, Leap Forward Ventures, and Renn Global.

R3 Roboticsa European startup seeking to automate EV system disassembly at scale, has raised €20 million ($23.6 million) in a combination of grants and venture funding. The €14 million ($16.5 million) Series A funding was co-led by HG Ventures and Suma Capital. Existing shareholders including Oetker Collection, European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund), BONVENTURE, FlixFounders, and EIT Urban Mobility also participated.

In sectionan El Segundo, California-based aviation automation startup, has raised more than $300 million in Series C funding. The round, led by Autopilot Ventures, raised the company’s 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 Reads and Other Useful Information

china It banned hidden, electronically operated door handles popularized by Tesla. The ruling, issued by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, states that all new cars sold in China must be equipped with mechanical releases on their door handles by January 1, 2027. There are rumors that Europe may soon follow.

uber We are continuously working to become competitive in the autonomous vehicle field. promoted by the company Balaji Krishnamurtiwas appointed as CFO. It looks like it’s not connected to AV, but it actually is. Krishnamurthy actively promotes the company’s autonomous vehicle sharing partnerships and serves on the board of AV company Waabi. On the company’s fourth quarter call, he talked about AV, saying the company will invest capital in AV software partners, work with AV manufacturers through equity investments or purchase agreements, and “support our AV infrastructure partners.”

Meanwhile, a large-scale lawsuit was filed against it. uber A mixed verdict was issued against the ride-hailing company in November 2023 after a woman filed a lawsuit after claiming she was sexually assaulted by an Uber driver. The jury found Uber liable as the driver’s apparent agent 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. In a statement emailed to TechCrunch, an Uber spokesperson said, “This ruling confirms that Uber has acted responsibly and made meaningful investments in passenger safety. We will continue to put safety at the center of everything we do.” Uber plans to appeal this decision.

One more thing…

In last week’s newsletter we ran a survey asking what your name or ticker would be. Elon MuskA merged super company should be like that. Thanks to everyone who emailed me with many suggestions, including space themes like Galactic X (great one). In the poll, the majority chose plain X.

This makes sense, considering Musk has frequently talked and posted about X, all apps. About 50% voted for

my choice? I think it will ultimately be X and the company will include more than just SpaceX and xAI.

Subscribe to our newsletter to take the survey!