Waymo crossed 200,000 paid robotaxi rides per week in mid-2025, finally giving this category a real revenue line. The companies below split between robotaxi, trucking, and platform plays. Waymo and Aurora are the two scaled US operators; Wayve raised a $1.05B Series C to push end-to-end driving with foundation models in Europe and Japan. Pony.ai and WeRide listed publicly and are pushing China and the Middle East. On freight, Kodiak AI and PlusAI focus on hub-to-hub trucking, while Nuro pivoted from delivery pods to licensing its driver. Polymath Robotics and Encord support the long tail with off-highway autonomy and the multimodal data layer for training.
CATEGORY
Best Autonomous Vehicles AI Tools
19 tools compared · 2026
Robotaxi, trucking, and self-driving foundation model startups
19 autonomous vehicles startups tracked, with the largest concentration in US. Total tracked funding: $41.7B.
Tracked
19
Total Raised
$41.7B
Countries
8
Active Deals
0
1 
Waymo Mountain View, US $31B 2 
Wayve London, GB $2.3B 3 
Nuro Mountain View, US $2.3B 4 
Aurora Pittsburgh, US $620M 5 
Waabi Toronto, CA $1.3B 6 
Pony.ai Fremont, US $1.2B 7 
Einride Stockholm, SE $913M 8 
Overland AI Seattle, US $142M 9 
WeRide Guangzhou, CN $1.1B 10 
Vatn Systems — $76.5M 11 
Turing Tokyo, JP $162M 12 
Congruent San Francisco, US $500K
Funding by year — Autonomous Vehicles
2018 → 2026Market overview
Key trends 2026
- End-to-end models replace stacks. Wayve and Tesla-style foundation drivers reduce hand-coded perception and planning modules.
- Trucking pulls ahead of cars in revenue. Kodiak AI and PlusAI run paid hub-to-hub freight while robotaxis scale geofences.
- Licensing beats fleet ownership. Nuro now licenses its driver; Wayve sells stack to OEMs rather than running cars.
Benchmarks vs global
Waymo paid rides per week
200,000+
~10,000 in early 2024 ↑
Wayve Series C valuation
$2B+
~$200M Series B ↑
US AV-related disengagement reports filed (CA DMV 2024)
60+ permit holders
50 in 2022 ↑
Top countries
By startup countStage breakdown
Latest round typeTop investors backing Autonomous Vehicles
See all →NVIDIA
5 deals
TR
T. Rowe Price
4 deals
5Y Capital
3 deals
SV
SoftBank Vision Fund 2
3 deals
FM
Fidelity Management & Research
3 deals
EQT Ventures
3 deals
Khosla Ventures
3 deals
ClearVue Partners
2 deals
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
2 deals
The Carlyle Group
2 deals
Greylock Partners
2 deals
U
Uber
2 deals
FAQ
Frequently asked
Waymo vs Tesla FSD — which is actually further along?
Waymo runs commercial driverless service in five US cities with no human in the seat; Tesla FSD remains driver-supervised in 2026. Tesla has more vehicles and miles, but Waymo has the only at-scale, fare-collecting, no-driver service. Different products, different risk profiles.
Is Wayve's end-to-end approach winning over the modular stack?
It's winning the research debate. Wayve's $1.05B Series C and partnerships with Nissan and Uber show OEMs are betting on learned driving. But Waymo's modular stack is what actually carries paying riders today, so deployments will stay mixed for years.
Where do AV startups still raise venture money?
Trucking (Kodiak AI, PlusAI), data infrastructure for AVs (Encord), and off-highway autonomy (Polymath, mining and agriculture). Robotaxi-only pitches now mostly get strategic dollars from OEMs, not venture rounds.
Recent rounds in Autonomous Vehicles
All rounds →All Autonomous Vehicles startups
Page 1Waymo
VerifiedThe world's most experienced autonomous driver
Raised
$31B
Stage
S-G
Wayve
VerifiedEmbodied intelligence for autonomous driving
Raised
$2.3B
Stage
SERIES D EXTENSION
Nuro
A universal autonomy platform for all roads and all rides, empowering automakers and mobility providers to scale autonomy responsibly.
Raised
$2.3B
Stage
S-E
Aurora
Delivering the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly.
Raised
$620M
Stage
IPO
Waabi
Generative AI for autonomous trucks and robotaxis
Raised
$1.3B
Stage
S-C
Pony.ai
Developing safe and reliable autonomous driving technology globally, accumulating millions of kilometers in road testing.
Raised
$1.2B
Stage
IPO
Einride
Autonomous, electric freight powered by the Saga planning platform
Raised
$913M
Stage
PIPE
Overland AI
Off-road ground autonomy for military vehicles in GPS-denied terrain
Raised
$142M
Stage
S-B
WeRide
WeRide is a global leader in autonomous driving technology, transforming urban living with a portfolio of five core products.
Raised
$1.1B
Stage
IPO
Vatn Systems
Affordable autonomous underwater vehicles that operate in swarms
Raised
$76.5M
Stage
Seed
Turing
End-to-end AI for fully autonomous driving in Japan
Raised
$162M
Stage
S-A
Congruent
AI native radars for self-driving cars
Raised
$500K
Stage
Seed
G42
G42 is an Abu Dhabi-born AI and cloud computing company building globally to push AI to do more for everyone.
PlusAI
Transforming transportation with Physical AI, powered by SuperDrive™, our AI-based autonomous driving system for trucks.
Kodiak AI
Safely driving an autonomous future with AI-powered ground autonomy solutions for reliable and efficient driverless movement.
Polymath Robotics
Superpowering off-highway autonomy programs with streamlined, software-first solutions for any machine in any environment.
VinAI
Bringing tomorrow's AI solutions to today's challenges, enhancing safety and intelligence in automotive and beyond.
Skyryse
AI-powered fly-by-wire system for any aircraft
Raised
$600M
Stage
S-C
Encord
The multimodal data layer powering physical AI from training to real-world deployment.