Zoox, a stealthy self-driving-car startup, is in talks with Japan's Softbank about raising a big round of funding, Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva reported on Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT
A self-driving-car startup filled with ex-Apple engineers is talking to Softbank about a funding round that could value it at $3 billion (AAPL)
Zoox, a secretive startup composed of ex-Apple engineers, is reportedly in talks with Softbank about launching a new funding round.
The new round could value the three-year old Silicon Valley startup at a hefty $3 billion to $4 billion, according to the report.
Zoox has been testing a fleet of autonomous cars in California since March 2016. Business Insider recently spotted an unmarked autonomous car in San Francisco which appears to be the latest Zoox prototype.
The Axios report did not specify how much money Zoox is looking to raise.
ADVERTISEMENT
Zoox has raised more than $250 million in funding so far, and the new cash infusion could help it ramp up its plans as it competes in a crowded field dominated by tech heavyweights like Uber, Tesla, Apple and Google spinoff Waymo.
Zoox has made some big hires in recent months.
Seventeen Apple engineers left the tech giant in August to join Zoox, Bloomberg reported. Mark Rosekind, the former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, joined Zoox in April as Chief Safety Innovation Officer. Corrado Lanzone, Ferrari's former operations director, joined Zoox in May as its vice president of manufacturing operations.
Representatives for Zoox and Softbank did not immediately return Business Insider's requests for comment.
Softbank has invested in a variety of players in the autonomous-car space, including NVIDIA and Nauto.
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
ADVERTISEMENT
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng
ADVERTISEMENT