Waymo drives the next chapter of autonomous mobility
Bessemer Venture Partners joins Waymo’s $16 billion Series D, paving the way for a future of autonomous driving that is safer and more sustainable.
Across more than a century, our firm has witnessed—and invested through—multiple generational shifts: from the horse-drawn carriage to the passenger car, offline computing to the connected internet, on-premise software to the cloud, and desktop computing to mobile applications. Now, with manual services being fully automated by AI, we’ve seen Waymo go the extra mile in the global autonomy market—developing from an in-house project at Google to now operating at a true Level 4 autonomy scale.
We believe we’re now at the precipice of another world-changing transformation, so we’re proud to place one of our largest bets: backing Waymo in their latest $16 billion financing as they build the new way forward in mobility, enabling safer roads for all.
For two decades, Waymo has pioneered the development of autonomous driving and has emerged as the clear leader in translating that vision into real-world and imminent global impact. Along the way, Waymo championed advances across the AI technology stack, impacted generational shifts in consumer behavior, gained hard-earned operational learnings across cities, and informed the emerging regulatory recognition of the safety and strategic importance of autonomy. Within this complex web of change, Waymo has now distinguished itself by mastering both the technical and operational moats required to deliver safe, fully autonomous vehicles at scale—fundamentally reshaping the future of mobility.
Our conviction in Waymo: the team and technology
It’s a privilege to partner on an opportunity 17 years in the making—we have tremendous respect for the sustained organizational discipline and perseverance that have enabled Waymo’s growing success in U.S. ride-hailing. Our excitement for Waymo is reinforced by its position as the clear category leader (across both technological maturity and real-world commercial deployment) in what we believe to be a multi-trillion-dollar global autonomy market. Competing at this scale requires enormous and sustained investment across vehicles, data, simulation, infrastructure, and world-class talent, narrowing the field to only the most capable and well-capitalized players.
Waymo’s credibility with regulators and proven safety record also represent a powerful advantage. The core of Waymo’s mission is to become the world’s most trusted driver, with a strong commitment to Vision Zero — the global effort to eliminate traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries. The data to date shows Waymo is already making streets 10x safer with 90% fewer serious injury (or worse) crashes than the average human driver in similar scenarios.
We're more than thrilled to partner with Waymo's highly experienced executive team, which includes a stellar pool of talent in the Autonomous Vehicle (AV) industry. The team is led by co-CEOs Tekedra Mawakana, previously Waymo's COO with leadership experience at eBay, Yahoo, AOL, and Startec, and Dmitri Dolgov, previously Waymo's CTO and a Google veteran with a PhD in computer science whose research at Stanford and Toyota focused on self-driving technology. The road ahead will require continued innovation, operational discipline, and perseverance. We recognize that inventing the future means navigating uncharted territory, and we're honored to support Waymo’s journey toward a safer, more accessible future of mobility.
