Canadian autonomous driving startup Waabi raises $1 billion to…

Team S · 2026-02-04T13:27:57.000Z

Waabi Innovation Inc., a Toronto-based autonomous vehicle and Physical AI startup specialising in self-driving technology for trucks, has raised $1 billion in new funding to expand its commercial footprint and enter the robotaxi market in partnership with Uber Technologies Inc. The fresh capital positions Waabi to scale its cutting-edge AI platform which powers both autonomous trucking and passenger robotaxis as demand grows for scalable autonomous transportation solutions beyond freight alone. In this Series C financing, Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners co-led the $750 million oversubscribed equity round, complemented by approximately $250 million in milestone-based investment from Uber tied to robotaxi deployment objectives. Strategic participation also came from Uber, NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture arm), Volvo Group Venture Capital, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock Inc., an Abu Dhabi Investment Authority-linked vehicle, BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund, Export Development Canada (EDC), TELUS Global Ventures, BMO Global Asset Management, and other institutional backers making this one of the largest autonomous driving raises in Canadian history. The Uber-Waabi partnership targets deployment of 25,000+ Waabi Driver-powered robotaxis on Uber’s ride-hailing platform over time, using Waabi’s unified Physical AI stack across vehicle types without needing separate systems for trucks and robotaxis. Founded in 2021 by AI expert Raquel Urtasun, Waabi has evolved its simulation-first AI platform designed to generalise across vehicle categories and geographies to power autonomous trucking commercialisation while spearheading its entry into passenger mobility via robotaxi services. The company plans to use the fresh capital to grow engineering and commercial teams, deepen AI capabilities, accelerate AV deployment, and support long-term global expansion of both freight and ride-hail autonomy.

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Canadian autonomous driving startup Waabi raises $1 billion to… | Newnex