Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company owned by Alphabet, secured $16 billion in funding to expand its robotaxi fleet to over a dozen new cities internationally, including London and Tokyo, according to a blog post released by the company on Monday. The funding round, which values Waymo at $126 billion, was led by Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, and Sequoia Capital.
The round also saw significant investments from Andreessen Horowitz and Mubadala Capital, as well as Bessemer Venture Partners, Silver Lake, Tiger Global, and T. Rowe Price. Other investors included BDT MSD Partners, CapitalG, Fidelity Management Research Company, GV, Kleiner Perkins, Perry Creek Capital, and Temasek. Alphabet, Waymo's parent company, also participated in the round, maintaining its position as the majority investor.
In other news, India's Supreme Court issued a strong rebuke to Meta regarding WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy. During Meta's appeal of a penalty imposed over the policy, judges questioned how WhatsApp monetizes personal data and how users can meaningfully consent to data-sharing practices in a market where the app is the default communications platform, according to TechCrunch. The court warned Meta that it would not allow the social media giant to "play with the right to privacy" of Indian users. India is WhatsApp's largest market, with over 500 million users, and a key growth area for Meta's advertising business. The judges questioned the potential commercial value of metadata generated by the platform and how such data could be monetized across Meta's wider advertising business.
Meanwhile, in the energy sector, Avalanche is pursuing a smaller-scale approach to nuclear fusion. According to TechCrunch, Avalanche co-founder and CEO Robin Langtry stated that the company is working on a "desktop version of nuclear fusion" to learn and iterate quickly. Langtry believes that this approach will help solve the challenges associated with harnessing the power of the Sun to supply the world with clean heat and electricity.
Vema Hydrogen is also exploring alternative energy solutions, focusing on the production of cheap hydrogen. The company inked a deal in December to supply California data centers and has completed a pilot project in Quebec to power industry with hydrogen produced deep underground, according to TechCrunch. Vema drills wells in regions with iron-rich rock that release hydrogen gas when treated with water, heat, pressure, and catalysts. Pierre Levin, CEO of Vema, told TechCrunch that to supply the Quebec local market, which is about 100,000 tons per year, "you would need 3 square kilometers, which is nothing." Vema's first pilot well will produce several tons of hydrogen per day.
In the fintech world, Gökçe Güven, a 26-year-old Turkish national and the founder and CEO of fintech startup Kalder, was charged last week with alleged securities fraud, wire fraud, visa fraud, and aggravated identity theft, according to TechCrunch. Güven, who was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, joins a growing list of alumni who have faced fraud charges, including FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Frank CEO Charlie Javice. Kalder, a New York-based fintech startup, claims to help companies create and monetize individual rewards programs.
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