Autonomous trucking startup Waabi has secured a substantial $750 million in its latest venture funding round, signaling an aggressive expansion into the burgeoning robotaxi market. This Series C round, spearheaded by prominent investors Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners, marks one of the largest single funding rounds ever achieved by a Canadian technology firm.
Adding further weight to Waabi’s ambitions, Uber has committed an additional $250 million, contingent upon future milestones. This strategic investment will enable Waabi to exclusively deploy at least 25,000 autonomous vehicles through Uber’s ride-hailing platform. Notably, Waabi’s founder and CEO, Raquel Urtasun, previously held the role of chief scientist at Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group, where she played a pivotal role in developing autonomous vehicle technology.
Ranked 35th on CNBC’s 2025 Disruptor 50 list, Waabi, headquartered in Toronto with operational hubs in Texas, is poised to leverage this significant capital infusion. Urtasun articulated that the funding will be instrumental in advancing the company’s “physical AI” approach, enabling the rapid development and deployment of driverless systems adaptable to diverse environments, conditions, and vehicle form factors with a paramount focus on safety.
“After 16 years immersed in the field of self-driving technology, it’s incredibly exciting to see that the era of scale is truly here. The next few years promise to be transformative,” Urtasun shared. While specific vehicle models are yet to be unveiled, Waabi’s prior work includes developing driverless trucks in collaboration with automotive manufacturers such as Volvo and Peterbilt. The company is transitioning its business model to a “driver as a service” paradigm, a move Urtasun, who also serves as a full professor of computer science at the University of Toronto, believes is key to unlocking future growth.
Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, expressed his conviction in Waabi’s strategy, highlighting its “capital efficient” approach to “physical AI” and its strategic advantage as a late mover. Khosla suggested that Waabi is achieving what predecessors in the autonomous vehicle sector accomplished with significantly more resources, time, and expenditure on research and safety testing, but at a fraction of the cost.
Urtasun echoed this sentiment, attributing Waabi’s progress to the profound advancements in artificial intelligence, sensor technology, and related fields since the pioneering DARPA Grand Challenge in 2004. She emphasized Waabi’s unwavering commitment to safety, speed to market, and cost-effectiveness, asserting that these priorities do not necessitate compromises in technological sophistication.
“Our system employs a multi-sensor fusion approach, integrating lidar, cameras, and radar,” Urtasun explained. “This diversity is critical, as each sensor type possesses distinct characteristics and failure modes, resulting in a significantly more robust and reliable perception system when used in concert.”
The autonomous trucking landscape remains intensely competitive, with Waabi’s technology facing off against established players like Aurora, Kodiak AI, and TuSimple, as well as automotive giants such as Tesla, which is scaling production of its Semi electric trucks and developing proprietary self-driving capabilities.
The robotaxi sector presents an even more formidable competitive arena. Established players and emerging contenders vying for dominance in the driverless passenger vehicle market include Alphabet-owned Waymo, Nuro, and WeRide, alongside automakers like Tesla and Rivian developing their own autonomous systems for the U.S. market. Meanwhile, companies such as Xiaomi and BYD are making significant inroads in China.
Waabi’s Series C funding round also saw participation from other key investors, including Nvidia’s venture capital arm NVentures, Volvo Group Venture Capital, and Porsche Automobil Holding SE, underscoring broad industry confidence in Waabi’s vision and technological prowess.
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