Robotaxi Revolutions Don't Come Cheap So Zoox Boosts Funding By $500 Million

Zoox co-founder and CEO Tim Kentley-Klay, left and co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson intend to launch a branded robotaxi service using purpose-built electric vehicles by 2020. Zoox knows it needs hefty investment to turn a vision of an on-demand ride service using purpose-built robotic vehicles designed without conventional driving controls into reality. Fortunately, the stealthy startup made more progress on the financial front, snagging $500 million in a Series B funding round led by Atlassian co-founder and CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes who is also joining the Zoox board. Led by Australian artist and entrepreneur Tim Kentley-Klay and computer scientist Jesse Levinson, the Foster City, California-based company has now raised nearly $800 million with a goal of launching its branded service in 2020. The new funds, reported earlier by Bloomberg Businessweek, lift Zoox's valuation to about $3.2 billion, Kentley-Klay told Forbes.