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Waabi lands historic financing, expands to robotaxis. Canadian autonomous trucking technology developer Waabi has raised $750 million in a Series C financing co-led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners. Waabi says it's the largest fundraise in Canadian history, at more than $1 billion Canadian. It also partnered with Uber to deploy tie Waabi Driver exclusively in the Uber platform. Waabi will use the funds to expand its autonomous trucking development as well as its expansion into robotaxis. "We invest in the companies that are leading the AI era. Waabi has developed a truly groundbreaking physical AI platform that represents a fundamental leap forward in how next generation driverless technology is being developed," said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures. "Their remarkable progress in autonomous trucking and rapid expansion into robotaxis demonstrates how their technology unlocks for the first time true scale in the real world. This breakthrough will define AI for decades to come." Added Brook Porter, partner and co-founder at G2 Venture Partners: "Waabi is fundamentally changing the trajectory of autonomous transportation. Their simulation-first end-to-end AI is a powerful enabler, accelerating commercial adoption while dramatically reducing capital needs to scale. Waabi is unlocking the potential for autonomy to drive vehicle efficiency and utilization, catalyzing the shift to a more sustainable transportation system." trucknews.com is the trucking industry's leading information source, delivering vital insights to fleet executives, operations teams, maintenance personnel, owner-operators, and more. Readers turn to our experienced journalists for award-winning trucking industry news, trends, technical advances, equipment maintenance techniques, and business practices alike. This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.

Waabi Raises $1B and expands into robotaxis with Uber. Autonomous vehicle startup, Waabi Raises $1B and struck a partnership with Uber to deploy self-driving cars on the ride-hailing giant's platform, the company announced on January 28, 2026. The funding includes a $750 million Series C round led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors including Nvidia, Volvo Group Venture Capital, Porsche Ventures, Radical Ventures, Harbor Street Ventures, Incharge Capital Partners, and Scania Invest, as well as new backers like Export Development Canada (EDC) and Investissement Québec. This brings Waabi's total funding to $1.28 billion since its 2021 founding, following a $200 million Series B in June 2024. Uber is committing up to $250 million in additional capital, contingent on Waabi meeting certain milestones, pushing the total raise to $1 billion. The partnership will see Waabi's self-driving vehicles integrated into Uber's network starting in 2027, initially in select markets, with plans to scale to thousands of robotaxis over time. Waabi, based in Toronto, says it's the first company to develop a shared AI "brain" capable of operating both autonomous trucks and robotaxis, leveraging its generative AI platform for safer, more efficient deployment. The startup has focused on trucking but is now expanding into passenger vehicles through this deal. "With this partnership, we're bringing together the best of autonomous technology and ride-hailing to unlock new opportunities for safe, affordable, and sustainable mobility," said Waabi founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun in the announcement. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi added: "Waabi's innovative approach to autonomy aligns with our vision for the future of transportation. This collaboration will accelerate the deployment of robotaxis on the Uber platform." The funds will support Waabi's expansion, including growing its team, advancing its AI technology, and scaling commercial operations in trucking while preparing for robotaxi launches. Waabi operates driverless trucks in Texas and plans further U.S. and Canadian rollouts. This deal comes amid a resurgence in autonomous vehicle investments, with competitors like Waymo and Cruise also partnering with ride-hailing services. Uber, which sold its self-driving unit to Aurora in 2020, has been rebuilding its AV strategy through collaborations. Waabi did not disclose its valuation in the round.

Autonomous trucking startup Waabi raises $750 million to expand into robotaxis. * Waabi has raised $750 million in a new round of venture funding to develop the "physical AI" that powers both driverless trucks and robotaxis. * Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners co-led the round in the Toronto-based startup. * Uber also committed to invest $250 million in Waabi to exclusively bring robotaxis, powered by the startup's self-driving systems to the ride-hailing company's platform. Waabi founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun Courtesy of Waabi Autonomous trucking startup Waabi said Wednesday that it has raised $750 million in funding as it enters into a partnership to deploy driverless systems in light duty vehicles for Uber robotaxi services. Waabi's series C round is led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners, the startup announced Wednesday. The deal is one of the largest single rounds ever raised by a Canadian tech startup. Ranking 35 on CNBC's 2025 Disruptor 50 list, Waabi is based in Toronto with some operations in Texas. Founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun told CNBC the new funding will enable the company to adapt its "physical AI" to develop driverless systems that can be made to work in new locations, conditions and form factors with a high level of safety relatively quickly. In addition to Waabi's series C, Uber has committed to invest $250 million into the startup based on future milestones. With Uber's additional funding, Waabi will exclusively deploy at least 25,000 autonomous vehicles via the ridehail platform. Urtasun was previously a chief scientist at Uber's Advanced Technologies Group that worked on AV technology. "For me, it's been 16 years in self-driving," she said. "But this is - it's finally here, scale is here. And the next couple of years, it's going to be amazing." Waabi has not yet revealed the vehicle models that will feature its systems. The startup previously developed driverless, trailer-hauling trucks made in partnership with automakers Volvo and, before that, Peterbilt. While Waabi has operated a fleet of its own driverless trucks to haul customers' cargo, it is now shifting to a "driver as a service" business model, said Urtasun, who is also a full professor of computer science at the University of Toronto. Vinod Khosla, Founder, Khosla Ventures, backstage of Centre Stage during day one of Collision 2024 at the Enercare Centre in Toronto, Canada. Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures and cofounder of computer hardware firm Sun Microsystems, told CNBC his fund is backing Waabi because it has taken a "capital efficient" approach to "physical AI," and has a late mover's advantage. What predecessors in the autonomous vehicle industry achieved with thousands of engineers and billions of dollars spent on research, development and safety testing, Waabi can do for a fraction, Khosla said. Urtasun agreed, pointing to profound advances in artificial intelligence, sensor technology and more since the earliest days of the DARPA Grand Challenge in 2004, which was an influential competition to inspire development of self-driving ground vehicles. Because Waabi is focused on safety, time to market and cost, the startup does not compromise on the technology it uses, Urtasun said. "We use multiple sensors, lidar, camera and radar," she said. "That's important because they each have very different characteristics and failure modes, and they're much more robust if you use them all." Many driverless trucking startups have come and gone, but Waabi's truck tech still faces competition from Aurora, Kodiak AI, Bot Auto and Tesla. Elon Musk's automaker Tesla is poised to produce more of its Semi electric trucks in 2026, and has promised to develop self-driving systems for them. The competition is even more fierce in the nascent robotaxi market. Competitors already operating or developing driverless, light duty passenger vehicles include other Uber partners such as Alphabet-owned Waymo, Nuro and WeRide as well as automakers developing their own driverless systems including Tesla and Rivian in the U.S., and Xiamoi and BYD in China. Additional investors in Waabi's series C round include Nvidia venture capital arm NVentures, Volvo Group Venture Capital and Porsche Automobil Holding SE, among others.