Waymo partners with Movean African mobility fintech that offers vehicle financing to construction workers, to manage the fleet management operations of its robotaxi service in Phoenix and, soon, Miami.
This partnership marks several firsts. This will signal Waymo’s entry into Miami. And this is also the first time that Moove enters the American market and works with autonomous vehicles. Today, Moove operates in various cities across Africa, the Middle East, India, and the United Kingdom, and has raised over $400 million from backers like Mubadala Investment Company and BlackRock. Earlier this year, Moove scored $100 million in a funding round led by Uber.
The partnership with Moove indicates that Waymo wants to outsource more of the business side of the business and focus on developing self-driving technology as a driver-as-a-service model.
Waymo has offered a commercial ride-sharing service in Phoenix for years and began offering its robotaxis there on the Uber app alongside Waymo’s native app, Waymo One, in October 2023. At the beginning of 2025, Waymo’s robotaxis will be available exclusively on the Uber app in Austin and Atlanta.
Waymo co-CEO Tekendra Mawakana wrote in a recent post on LinkedIn that as the company expands its autonomous vehicle operations, it intends to create an ecosystem of industry partners, including “charging infrastructure partners; fleet maintenance partners; fully electric automotive partners like Jaguar Land Rover…”
Moove falls under the Fleet Maintenance Partnership. Waymo will still operate Waymo One in Phoenix and Miami, but Moove will take over fleet operations in Phoenix and help the company build the necessary charging infrastructure and depots for its fleet of Jaguar I-Paces in Miami. Waymo intends to move 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 ride-hailing service in the city in 2026. As the company tests, Moove will build the infrastructure that Waymo needs to deploy in Miami. , according to a Waymo spokesperson.
Waymo’s plan to expand into a new city typically begins with manually testing a small fleet, primarily for mapping purposes, before testing autonomously with a safety operator behind the wheel. Waymo then releases the driver and invites employees to ride before launching commercially.
Waymo would not share which neighborhoods the company is targeting in Miami, or what the financial deal with Moove would be.
Entering new markets
A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch that Moove’s global fleet management experience made the startup an attractive partner for managing robotaxi fleet operations.
As established, the partnership marks an important milestone for Moove: expanding its services to include autonomous vehicles and establishing its presence in the United States, a process the startup began almost 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, announcing plans to become the largest electric vehicle partner on the Uber platform in London, said it would deploy up to 10,000 electric vehicles and more than 6,000 charging points by the end of 2025, which corresponds to Uber’s goal of becoming an all-electric provider. platform in the British capital next year.
While Moove may be looking to enter into new partnerships (like this one with Waymo) globally to diversify from Uber, its experience working with the mobility giant over this long period of time will prove useful . This certainly helped secure Waymo as a customer.
That said, for Moove, managing the operations of Waymo’s autonomous fleets in two major US cities is a significant milestone. It extends the company’s global reach to the biggest leagues – diversifying its offerings beyond Africa and emerging markets – and demonstrates its ability to manage complex fleet operations in various markets.
Moove has other plans in the United States, based on job postings on the company’s website. There are several listings for potential service in Los Angeles, although the nature of it is unclear.
A Waymo spokesperson said the two have no plans to launch together in Los Angeles, where Waymo currently runs a commercial service.
When contacted, a Moove spokesperson confirmed the company was recruiting for its growing U.S. team, but declined to provide details.