Waabi
Waabi is a Toronto-based Physical AI company that develops a shared end-to-end generative AI driving model (Waabi Driver) and high-fidelity neural simulator (Waabi World) for autonomous trucking and robotaxi applications, with commercial Driver-as-a-Service operations on the Dallas–Houston corridor and an exclusive Uber partnership for 25,000+ robotaxis.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersToronto, Canada
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Waabi does
Waabi is a Toronto-based Physical AI company developing a unified autonomous driving platform, founded in 2021 by Raquel Urtasun, former chief scientist of Uber ATG. Its core product, the Waabi Physical AI Platform, is built around a single end-to-end, verifiable generative AI driving model — the Waabi Driver — that serves as a shared AI brain for both autonomous trucks and robotaxis, paired with Waabi World, a high-fidelity closed-loop neural simulator that achieved an industry-leading 99.7% realism score. Supporting capabilities include Mixed Reality Testing (MRT) for closed-course safety validation, an onboard fault monitoring and management system for driverless fallback, and digital twin generation from sensor data; the stack runs on NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor compute integrated into the Volvo VNL Autonomous truck.
The company operates a Driver-as-a-Service commercial model priced at approximately $0.40–$0.50 per mile, undercutting the $0.70–$0.80 per mile cost of human-driven long-haul trucking, with commercial loads running on the Dallas–Houston corridor via a 10-year partnership with Uber Freight since September 2023. Named enterprise users include Samsung, DSV, and DHL (the latter two via Volvo Autonomous Solutions' integrated solution). A second distribution channel runs through OEM integration: Waabi Driver is vertically integrated into Volvo's VNL Autonomous truck produced at the New River Valley plant in Virginia, positioning the company for licensing-style revenue per truck produced. A third revenue stream is committed via an exclusive January 2026 partnership with Uber to deploy 25,000+ Waabi Driver-powered robotaxis over time, supported by a $250M Uber milestone-based investment that ties Uber's capital deployment to commercial launch progress.
Waabi is privately held and headquartered in Toronto with operating offices in San Francisco, Dallas, Phoenix, and Pittsburgh. The company has raised approximately $1.28 billion in cumulative funding across a 2021 Series A ($83.5M), a 2024 Series B ($200M), and a January 2026 Series C ($750M equity + $250M Uber milestone-based), reaching an approximate $3 billion post-money valuation. Strategic shareholders — Uber, NVIDIA, Volvo, and Porsche — are tied to material commercial partnerships, and the executive team includes COO Lior Ron, founder and former CEO of Uber Freight. Waabi was ranked No. 27 on CNBC's 2026 Disruptor 50 (up from No. 35 in 2025) and was named to Fast Company's 2025 AI 20 list.
Waabi firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Waabi
- Legal name
- Waabi Innovation Inc.
- Website
- https://waabi.ai
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Waabi is a Toronto-based Physical AI company that develops a shared end-to-end generative AI driving model (Waabi Driver) and high-fidelity neural simulator (Waabi World) for autonomous trucking and robotaxi applications, with commercial Driver-as-a-Service operations on the Dallas–Houston corridor and an exclusive Uber partnership for 25,000+ robotaxis.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Waabi industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Autonomous Driving Technology
- NAICS
- Industrial Truck, Tractor, Trailer, and Stacker Machinery Manufacturing (333924), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Material Handling Equipment Manufacturing (33392)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Special Industry Machinery, Nec (3559)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Robot Software, Autonomy Stacks & Simulation (ROS, digital twins) (HDAAAIAK)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Autonomous Ride-Hailing / Robotaxi Platforms (THADADAL)
Keywords
Where Waabi is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Toronto
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices5 records
Markets served
Waabi business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Driver-as-a-Service: Subscription/usage-based service offering autonomous trucking capacity at approximately $0.40-$0.50 per mile, compared to human driver costs of $0.70-$0.80 per mile. Commercial operations launched in Texas (Dallas-Houston corridor) via Uber Freight network in 2024-2025.
- OEM Integration and Licensing: Strategic integration of the Waabi Driver into OEM platforms (e.g., Volvo VNL Autonomous), enabling factory-installed autonomy and positioning for licensing-style revenue per truck produced with the Waabi system.
- Robotaxi Deployment (Future): Planned exclusive deployment of 25,000+ Waabi Driver-powered robotaxis on Uber's platform over time, with milestone-based Uber investment tied to deployment progress. Commercial launch markets and vehicle manufacturing partners to be announced.
- Direct Carrier and Shipper Services: Enterprise contracts with motor carriers and shippers (e.g., Samsung) for autonomous freight movements, leveraging the direct-to-customer model to handle both highway and surface street legs.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Driver-as-a-Service per-mile pricing (~$0.40-$0.50 per mile) |
| Other | Multi-year contract | OEM platform integration (quote-based, not publicly disclosed) |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Robotaxi deployment (Uber partnership, milestone-based) |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Waabi product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Waabi develops and sells a Physical AI Platform for autonomous transportation, centered on the Waabi Driver — an end-to-end, verifiable, generative-AI-based autonomous driving system designed for factory-level OEM integration into trucks and robotaxis. The platform is paired with Waabi World, a high-fidelity closed-loop neural simulator (99.7% realism score) and Mixed Reality Testing methodology for training, validation, and safety testing. Waabi commercially deploys its technology via Driver-as-a-Service for autonomous trucking, OEM integration with truck manufacturers, and a planned exclusive robotaxi deployment on Uber's platform.
Product overview
Waabi offers a unified Physical AI Platform rather than a portfolio of standalone products. The platform centers on the Waabi Driver — a verifiable, end-to-end generative AI autonomous driving system that serves as a shared AI brain for both autonomous trucks and robotaxis — and is paired with Waabi World, a high-fidelity closed-loop neural simulator (with Mixed Reality Testing and the UniSim neural sensor simulator as supporting modules) for training, validation, and safety testing. Together these components allow the same AI model to scale across vehicle form factors and operating domains (highways and surface streets), which is the basis for Waabi's direct-to-customer autonomous trucking service and its exclusive Uber robotaxi deployment partnership.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Waabi Driver: End-to-end, verifiable, AI-based autonomous driving system that serves as the shared brain powering both Waabi's autonomous trucks and robotaxis.
- Waabi World
Products and services
- Waabi Driver An end-to-end, verifiable AI-based autonomous driving system that uses human-like reasoning to generalize across unseen scenarios. Combines generative AI autonomy software with sensors and compute hardware, designed for factory-level OEM integration into trucks and serving as a shared AI brain for robotaxis.
- Waabi Physical AI Platform The overarching platform that combines the Waabi Driver's verifiable end-to-end AI model with the Waabi World neural simulator to enable a shared AI brain powering both autonomous trucks and robotaxis across different form factors, geographies, and environments.
- Waabi Driver-as-a-Service Subscription/usage-based autonomous trucking capacity offered at approximately $0.40-$0.50 per mile, sold through the Uber Freight marketplace to motor carriers and shippers, enabling full-journey door-to-door autonomous freight including surface street and highway driving.
- OEM Driver Integration (Volvo VNL Autonomous) Vertical integration of the Waabi Driver into the Volvo VNL Autonomous truck, enabling factory-installed autonomy for commercial fleets with redundant braking, steering, communication, and compute systems.
- Uber Robotaxi Deployment Program Planned deployment of 25,000+ Waabi Driver-powered robotaxis exclusively on Uber's global ride-hailing platform under a milestone-based partnership tied to deployment progress.
Quantifiable outcome
- Waabi World achieves 99.7% simulation realism score vs. real-world driving (industry-leading)
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Waabi
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Waabi technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
AI capability10 records
Feature7 records
Waabi partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators10 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Waabi competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Pony.ai: Pony.ai develops autonomous driving technology for robotaxi and trucking applications, with operations primarily in China and the US. It is an emerging competitor with overlapping technology (full-stack AV) and use cases (robotaxi deployment) that intersect with Waabi's planned Uber robotaxi expansion.
- Gatik: Gatik operates autonomous middle-mile logistics for retailers like Walmart and Loblaw, focused on shorter B2B routes. It is an emerging player with partial overlap in autonomous freight deployment, though its B2B middle-mile focus differs from Waabi's long-haul door-to-door model.
Broad incumbents
- Waymo: Waymo (Alphabet subsidiary) operates the most mature commercial robotaxi service and has expanded into autonomous trucking via Waymo Via. It overlaps with Waabi on robotaxi deployment (competing for Uber partnership opportunities) and AV freight, with substantially more deployed capital and operational track record.
- Mobileye: Mobileye (Intel subsidiary) is a broad incumbent in ADAS and autonomous driving technology, supplying perception and mapping solutions across the automotive industry. While it focuses on consumer-vehicle ADAS rather than full L4 trucking, its AV platform ambitions and OEM relationships overlap with Waabi's OEM integration strategy.
- Zoox (Amazon): Zoox, owned by Amazon, develops purpose-built robotaxis and is a broad incumbent in the robotaxi space where Waabi plans to deploy 25,000+ vehicles via Uber. Its vertical integration into vehicle manufacturing and ride-hailing ambitions overlap with Waabi's planned robotaxi business.
- Tesla (Autopilot / Robotaxi): Tesla's Autopilot/FSD and announced robotaxi ambitions make it a broad incumbent that overlaps with both Waabi's autonomous trucking roadmap (Tesla Semi) and the planned Uber robotaxi deployment. Tesla's scale, vertical integration, and brand create significant competitive pressure in any AV vertical.
Direct peers
- Plus AI: Plus develops full-stack autonomous driving technology for trucks, with partnerships with major OEMs including a truck factory integration deal. It competes with Waabi in the autonomous long-haul trucking market, particularly in North America and Asia.
- Embark Trucks: Embark Trucks was a direct competitor in autonomous long-haul trucking before ceasing operations and selling assets in 2023. It is included as a historical direct peer because it competed with Waabi in the same AV freight niche using a similar asset-light Driver-as-a-Service model.
- Aurora Innovation: Aurora develops the Aurora Driver for autonomous trucks and other applications. Aurora is a direct competitor in autonomous long-haul trucking — its Driver technology is also integrated into Volvo's VNL Autonomous trucks alongside Waabi's, and Aurora has accumulated 1M+ commercial miles on the Dallas-Houston corridor.
- Kodiak Robotics: Kodiak Robotics develops AI-powered autonomous trucking technology targeting highway freight. It is a direct competitor with commercial operations on Texas corridors and pursues similar Driver-as-a-Service and OEM partnership business models.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Waabi social profiles
Digital presenceWaabi financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Waabi leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Waabi funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors25 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Waabi M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Waabi
What does Waabi do?
Waabi develops and sells a Physical AI Platform for autonomous transportation, centered on the Waabi Driver — an end-to-end, verifiable, generative-AI-based autonomous driving system designed for factory-level OEM integration into trucks and robotaxis. The platform is paired with Waabi World, a high-fidelity closed-loop neural simulator (99.7% realism score) and Mixed Reality Testing methodology for training, validation, and safety testing. Waabi commercially deploys its technology via Driver-as-a-Service for autonomous trucking, OEM integration with truck manufacturers, and a planned exclusive robotaxi deployment on Uber's platform.
Is Waabi a public or private company?
Waabi is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Waabi founded?
Waabi was founded in 2021. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Waabi based?
Waabi is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Waabi make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Driver-as-a-Service is the primary driver. The others are OEM Integration and Licensing, robotaxi Deployment (Future) and direct Carrier and Shipper Services.
Who are Waabi's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Pony.ai and Gatik. Broad incumbents are Waymo, Mobileye, Zoox (Amazon) and Tesla (Autopilot / Robotaxi). Direct peers are Plus AI, Embark Trucks, Aurora Innovation and Kodiak Robotics.
Does Waabi have an API?
No public API is recorded for Waabi.
What industry is Waabi in?
Waabi's product category is Autonomous Driving Technology. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAAAIAK, Robot Software, Autonomy Stacks & Simulation (ROS, digital twins), with a secondary code of THADADAL, Autonomous Ride-Hailing / Robotaxi Platforms. Its NAICS code is 333924 and its SIC code is 7373.