Uber Prepares for Robotaxi Boom, Seeks Capital from Banks and PE Firms

Published: 07 Aug 2025

Author: Precedence Research

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Uber is in the middle of discussions with private equity firms and banks to raise funds and use them for the expansion and modification of its Robotaxi business. Uber, which provides a robotaxi service from Alphabet (Google)-owned Waymo, is looking to strengthen its presence in the self-driving industry through collaborations with other automakers like Volkswagen and Lucid, similar to Tesla’s intent to expand its business in the robotaxi industry. 

The CEO of Uber, Khosrowshahi, said, “We are talking to private equity players, we have talked to banks, by saying once we prove the revenue model, how much these cars can generate on a per-day basis, there will be plenty of financing to go around.” 

He further talked about their plans for a larger plan that includes three robotaxi business models: paying collaborators who own these vehicles a fixed rate, sharing their profits with fleet operators, and owning vehicles with software licenses that allow them to use self-driving technology. 

According to Uber, they are planning to use a ‘modest’ portion of their funds, which is nearly USD 7 billion in annual cash, to fund deployments, and they are also looking to sell minority stakes in companies to further boost robotaxi’ expansion. Additionally, in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia, Uber is offering Waymo robotaxi through its ride-hailing app. And Uber made a deal with Volkswagen for thousands of electric vans that will work in autonomous mode in the U.S. for approximately 10 years. 

It also made a partnership with EV startup Lucid, a USD 300 million partnership in July that will provide more than 20,000 autonomous taxis. Despite a lot of speculation and uncertainty over the success rate for robotaxis, many startups are forced to shut down. However, Tesla and Waymo have been exceeding their limits to expand robotaxi services. This business holds the potential to create a trillion-dollar profit, as per the renowned CEO of Tesla, Mr. Elon Musk.  

Further, Waymo is present in 5 different U.S. cities, such as San Francisco, and Tesla launched a limited robotaxi service in Austin, which has already started working with the help of a ride-hailing app in the Bay Area last month.