Zoox develops all-electric, fully autonomous vehicles with the goal of operating its own ride-hailing service. The company plans to publicly deploy autonomous vehicles by 2020. Zoox has about 500 employees and was founded by Tim Kentley-Klay and Jesse Levinson; it turned four years old this month. Financially, Zoox is closing a $500 million raise at a $3.2 billion post-money valuation, bringing its total funding to $800 million. Prior to the deal the company was valued at $2.7 billion, according to TechCrunch. Zoox competes with ride-hail companies like Uber and Lyft and a number of other large players pursuing autonomous vehicles. Zoox is developing autonomous vehicles and intends to operate a ride-hailing service rather than sell cars to consumers. The company has described its effort as a “five-year vehicle development program” and has not announced specific release timetables. Founded by Jesse Levinson and Tim Kentley-Klay less than two years ago, Zoox is based in Menlo Park and has hired more than 100 employees, including talent from Tesla, Alphabet and Apple. Financially, TechCrunch reports the startup recently raised $50 million from Composite Capital and had raised $200 million months earlier at a $1 billion valuation. The company is now being valued at $1.5 billion. Earlier investors include DFJ, Lux Capital and Blackbird Ventures. TechCrunch reported Zoox is raising about $200 million at a $1 billion valuation. The company was founded by Tim Kentley-Klay and Jesse Levinson and has been working on autonomous vehicles for several years. Zoox has kept details deliberately quiet, likely for competitive reasons. Sources say the team has reinvented every aspect of the car and believes it has proprietary technology. The company has drawn comparisons to Google's self-driving efforts, Cruise Automation, and potentially Tesla. Zoox publicly surfaced at the 2013 LA Auto Show with renderings of a "Boz" design that emphasized autonomy by lacking windshields.

Total raised

$750M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

Jul 2018