Waymo outsources fleet operations to African fintech Moove in Phoenix and soon Miami
Waymo is partnering with movean African mobility fintech that offers vehicle financing to freelancers to manage the fleet management operations of its robotaxi service in Phoenix and, soon, Miami.
The partnership marks several firsts. It will mark Waymo’s entrance to Miami. And it’s also the first time Moove has entered the US market and worked with autonomous vehicles. Today, Moove operates in several cities in Africa, the Middle East, India and the United Kingdom, and has raised over $400 million from backers such as Mubadala Investment Company and BlackRock. Earlier this year, Moove noted $100 million in a round led by Uber.
The partnership with Moove signals that Waymo wants to outsource more of the commercial side of the business and focus on developing self-driving technology as a driver-as-a-service model.
Waymo has been offering a commercial transportation service in Phoenix for years and began offering its robotaxis on the Uber app there along with Waymo’s native app, Waymo One, in October 2023. Starting in early 2025, Waymo robotaxis will be available exclusively in the Uber app in Austin and Atlanta.
Waymo co-CEO Tekendra Mawakana wrote in a recent post on LinkedIn that as the company expands autonomous vehicle operations, it intends to create an ecosystem of industry partners, including “charging infrastructure partners; fleet maintenance partners; all-electric automotive partners like Jaguar Land Rover…”
Moove belongs to the fleet maintenance partner group. Waymo will continue to operate Waymo One in Phoenix and Miami, but Moove will take over fleet operations in Phoenix and help the company build the charging infrastructure and warehouses needed for its fleet of Jaguar I-Paces in Miami. Waymo intends to transition its operations to Moove in Phoenix early next year.
In Miami, Waymo will begin small-scale testing in early 2025, with the goal of launching a fully driverless commercial transportation service in the city in 2026. As the company conducts testing, Moove will build the infrastructure Waymo needs to deploy in Miami. , according to a Waymo spokesperson.
Waymo’s playbook for expanding into a new city typically begins by manually testing a small fleet, primarily for mapping purposes, before testing autonomously with a safety operator behind the wheel. Waymo then takes out the driver and invites employees to ride before the commercial launch.
Waymo would not share which neighborhoods the company is targeting in Miami, or what the financial agreement with Moove would be.
Advancing towards new markets
A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch that Moove’s global fleet management experience made the startup an attractive partner to handle robotaxi fleet operations.
As established, the partnership marks a major milestone for Moove: expanding its services to include autonomous vehicles and establishing its presence in the US, a process the startup began nearly four months ago, according to job offers on LinkedIn.
Since its launch, Moove has been an exclusive fleet partner for Uber, purchasing vehicles and leasing them to drivers who pay weekly until they own the cars. In 2022, Moove, speaking of plans to become the largest electric vehicle partner on Uber’s platform in London, said it will deploy up to 10,000 electric vehicles and more than 6,000 charging points by the end of 2025, in line with the goal of Uber to become a fully electric vehicle. platform in the UK capital next year.
While Moove may be looking to secure new partnerships (like this one with Waymo) globally to diversify from Uber, its experience working with the mobility giant for so long will come in handy. It certainly helped secure Waymo as a customer.
That said, for Moove, managing Waymo’s autonomous fleet operations in two major U.S. cities is a big step. It expands the company’s global reach to major leagues, as it diversifies its offerings beyond Africa and emerging markets, and showcases its ability to handle complex fleet operations across multiple markets.
Moove has other plans in the U.S., according to job postings on the company’s website. There are several listings for a potential service in Los Angeles, although the nature of the service is unclear.
A Waymo spokesperson said the two have no plans to launch together in Los Angeles, where Waymo currently offers commercial service.
When asked, a Moove spokesperson confirmed that the company is hiring for its burgeoning US team, but declined to provide details.
Personal opinion:
“Waymo’s decision to delegate its fleet operations to Moove is a great and smart move. This collaboration could boost Moove’s growth in other markets, while allowing Waymo to focus its efforts on developing its vision for autonomous driving. The expansion into Phoenix and Miami shows that this partnership could be the beginning of further development in the field of smart mobility.”
