Waymo Raises $5.5 Billion for Robotaxis. Plus: $318 Million for Flying Taxis

Robo-taxis, flying taxis, electric planes, and renewable jet fuel. Next-generation mobility is the theme in this startup funding roundup.

The most notable fundraise was $5.5 billion by Waymo, which is expanding robotaxis across the U.S.. The startup has already been operating the service within San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, as well as curbside pickup at the Sky Harbor International Airport. And the startup says its driverless cars could go on road trips in the future.

Beta Technologies, among the multiple players developing flyings taxis, raised $318 million. It’s the second-largest raise in that sector this year, the highest being $500 million for Joby Aviation last month.

Aside from those two big fundraises, eight other travel startups raised over $160 million in the past three weeks.

Waymo: $5.5 Billion 

Waymo, which operates an autonomous ride hailing service in U.S. cities, has raised $5.5 billion in an oversubscribed round of funding. 

Alphabet (parent company of Google) led the round, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity, Perry Creek, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price.

Waymo’s cars operate without a driver, using an AI driving system that the startup has been developing since 2009. The company was born as a project by Google before spinning out. 

Through a partnership with Uber, the company will begin serving Austin and Atlanta.

The funds will also support advancements in the Waymo Driver, Waymo’s autonomous driving system designed for various commercial applications.

The company has been experimenting with more complex trips, like road trips to cities including Buffalo, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Beta Technologies: $318 Million

Beta Technologies, which is developing two types of electric aircraft, has raised $318 million in series C funding. 

QIA led the round, with support from Fidelity Management & Research Company, TPG Rise Climate, United Therapeutics, and others.

The company has now raised more than $1 billion in equity capital.

The Vermont-based company is developing two electric aircrafts, one that takes off vertically and one that takes off conventionally. It’s targeting the commercial and cargo industries. 

It recently completed a series of test flights, including between the JFK and LGA airports in New York City.

The company last year opened a nearly 200,000 square foot manufacturing facility, which it says has capacity to produce up to 300 aircraft per year. Production has begun, with plans to increase production rates over the next two years. 

The company has purchasing contracts with Air New Zealand, UPS, United Therapeutics, Blade Urban Air Mobility, Bristow, Helijet, LCI, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Army.

It has also built a charging system for electric aircraft, with plans to deploy  the products in airports across the U.S. and internationally.

The funding will go toward accelerating the production, certification, and deployment of the vehicles.

Blacklane: $65 Million

Blacklane, a chauffeur service app, has raised $65 million (€60 million) in series G funding. 

Tasaru Mobility Investments, an auto and mobility investment firm based in Saudi Arabia, led the latest round with support from existing investors. 

Berlin-based Blacklane offers several types of luxury chauffeur services for consumers and business travelers, bookable through an app, in more than 200 cities around the world.

Services include airport transfers, city-to-city travel, hourly and day bookings, ride-hailing in Dubai and Miami.

The funding will go toward growing each of the company’s business lines, as well as establishing operations in new locations.

(See Skift’s story.)

TripFactory: $50 Million

TripFactory, which sells vacation packages, has raised $50 million in series A funding from an undisclosed corporate group based in India. 

The deal values the company at $500 million, the company said.

Singapore-based TripFactory provides the vacation packages to travel agents, who can then sell them to their clients. Consumers can also book vacations through the TripFactory website.

The funding will go toward business expansion, addings new products, and enhancing current offerings. 

Beyond Aero: $20 Million

Beyond Aero, which is developing a hydrogen-electric aircraft for business travel, has raised $20 million in series A funding.

Giant Ventures and Bpifrance co-led the round, with support from Initialized Capital and a group of athletes. 

The France-based company’s aircraft, One, is designed to carry six to eights passengers for 800 nautical miles. The aircraft’s electric system is powered by hydrogen propulsion. The company is building a lab to test all the components of its system.

Beyond Aero has a target to enter the market by 2030. 

The company has letters of intent worth $914 million for the purchase of 108 aircraft.

Cruisebound: $13 Million

Cruisebound, an online travel agency for cruises, has raised $13 million in venture capital. 

Thayer Ventures led the round, with support from Link Ventures, former Booking Holdings CEO Jeff Boyd, PAR Capital Ventures, Tripadvisor former CEO Steve Kaufer, Flybridge, Plug & Play Ventures, and others. 

New York City-based Cruisebound says it offers more than 27,000 itineraries from 19 major cruise lines. The booking platform features real-time pricing, instant booking, free cabin reservation for 24 hours, multi-cabin bookings, and flexible payment options. 

It also has an AI chatbot for customer service and trip planning. 

The company says it has had “triple-digit annual revenue growth” with a customer base that averages 37 years old, 10 years younger than the industry average. 

The funding will go toward strengthening its product offerings. 

Radical Storage: $7 Million

Radical Storage, an app for booking luggage storage, has raised $7 million (€6.5 million) in series A funding. 

The round was co-led by CDP Venture Capital, Azimut’s ALIcrowd III fund, and Opes Italia Sicaf, with participation from Finint Investments and Vertis. Over $2 million came from a crowdfunding campaign through the platform Mamacrowd.

The Italy-based startup allows travelers to temporarily store luggage in places like cafes and supermarkets. The app has more than 9,000 storage locations in 1,000 cities across 70 countries.

The funding will go toward adding more local businesses to the platform, with a goal of reaching 30,000 locations by 2027.

Universal Fuel Technologies: $3 Million

Universal Fuel Technologies, which converts renewable materials into jet fuel, has raised $3 million in seed funding.

The round was led by TO VC, with participation from Alchemist Accelerator, Claire Technologies, and World Star Aviation. 

The California-based startup says its tech makes fuel materials including ethanol, methanol, renewable naphtha, and liquefied petroleum gas. Much of the feedstock are byproducts of other companies’ renewable jet fuel development processes, the company said. 

The funding will go toward further developing the tech and establishing a lab in Texas for pilot production. 

Workgrounds: $2.6 Million

Workgrounds, which handles group hotel room reservations for the meetings industry, has raised $2.6 million in pre-seed funding.

Oceans Ventures led the round, with support from Hannah Grey, Volo Ventures, and Deftly.vc.

New York City-based Workgrounds is an AI-powered platform meant to streamline the manual processes involved in sourcing, negotiating, and managing hotel room blocks for corporate groups.  

Clients include SeatGeek, RevenueCat, and Yieldmo.

The funding will go toward developing the platform and expanding the client base.

BuzzAR: $1.2 Million

BuzzAR, an AI tour guide for travel companies, has raised $1.2 million from the HSBC New Economy Fund.

Singapore-based BuzzAR has developed an AI-powered avatar that’s meant to act as a digital tour guide. The startup’s clients can provide travelers access to the avatar through a mobile app. The bot can provide travelers information about their vacation destinations, and travelers can complete certain bookings using the tool. 

The startup is partnering with the Saudi Tourism Authority, among others. 

The funding will go toward expanding in the Middle East and North Africa region, particularly in Saudi Arabia.