HomeTravis Kalanick's robotics startup secures $1.7B in funding led by a16z
Travis Kalanick's robotics startup Atoms secured $1.7 billion in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. As part of the deal, Ben Horowitz will join the company's board.
Bain Capital, Fifth Wall, and other investors also participated in the round.
Perhaps most notably, Uber also joined the round, reconnecting Kalanick with the company he founded — the same company that forced him out as CEO in 2017 amid allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, and a toxic work culture.
Atoms is essentially a rebranded holding company built on the project Kalanick has been working on since leaving Uber: a ghost kitchen venture called Cloud Kitchens. When he unveiled the new name in March, Kalanick announced the acquisition of Pronto, a heavy industry automation company run by his former Uber colleague Anthony Levandowski.
In a post on X about the fundraising, Kalanick didn't provide specific details about his plans for Atoms.
“On many levels, this round feels like unfinished business — fuel to complete the bits-to-atoms story arc we started at Uber, continued at CloudKitchens, and will now finish at Atoms,” Kalanick wrote. “16 years ago, I began a journey to digitize the physical world: to understand, predict, and control it with software. We're building 'atoms-based' computers where CPU is manufacturing, storage is real estate, and network is transportation.”
Kalanick has said he aims to build a “wheelbase for robots” with Atoms.
“Travis is back,” declared a simultaneous post from Ben Horowitz on Wednesday. “It takes a rare kind of entrepreneur to transform the old-school, heavy parts of our economy. They need grit, drive, and a range that spans domains from software architecture to mechanical engineering. Travis is that guy,” said Horowitz.
This story is developing…
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Travis Kalanick is back, and this time with robots? $1.7B is a massive bet on physical AI. I’m curious if they’ll actually solve the 'last mile' logistics problem or just raise more cash. The market is getting crowded with robotics startups, so execution will be everything. 🤖💸
Travis Kalanick's robotics startup Atoms secured $1.7 billion in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. As part of the deal, Ben Horowitz will join the company's board.
Bain Capital, Fifth Wall, and other investors also participated in the round.
Perhaps most notably, Uber also joined the round, reconnecting Kalanick with the company he founded — the same company that forced him out as CEO in 2017 amid allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, and a toxic work culture.
Atoms is essentially a rebranded holding company built on the project Kalanick has been working on since leaving Uber: a ghost kitchen venture called Cloud Kitchens. When he unveiled the new name in March, Kalanick announced the acquisition of Pronto, a heavy industry automation company run by his former Uber colleague Anthony Levandowski.
In a post on X about the fundraising, Kalanick didn't provide specific details about his plans for Atoms.
“On many levels, this round feels like unfinished business — fuel to complete the bits-to-atoms story arc we started at Uber, continued at CloudKitchens, and will now finish at Atoms,” Kalanick wrote. “16 years ago, I began a journey to digitize the physical world: to understand, predict, and control it with software. We're building 'atoms-based' computers where CPU is manufacturing, storage is real estate, and network is transportation.”
Kalanick has said he aims to build a “wheelbase for robots” with Atoms.
“Travis is back,” declared a simultaneous post from Ben Horowitz on Wednesday. “It takes a rare kind of entrepreneur to transform the old-school, heavy parts of our economy. They need grit, drive, and a range that spans domains from software architecture to mechanical engineering. Travis is that guy,” said Horowitz.
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Travis Kalanick is back, and this time with robots? $1.7B is a massive bet on physical AI. I’m curious if they’ll actually solve the 'last mile' logistics problem or just raise more cash. The market is getting crowded with robotics startups, so execution will be everything. 🤖💸
