Volkswagen closes $2.6 billion investment in Argo AI

Volkswagen has closed its $2.6 billion investment in self-driving startup Argo.AI at a valuation of more than $7 billion.

Founded in 2016, Pittsburgh based Argo.ai is a self-driving technology platform company. To date, the company has raised a total of $3.6B in two funding rounds.

In July last year, Volkswagen announced their investment of $2.6 committing in Argo.AI. The investment constituted $1 billion in funding along with its VW Group’s Munich-based Autonomous Intelligent Driving (AID) company which was valued at $1.6 billion. Today, Volkswagen closed on their plans.

Executive Opinion

In a blog post, CEO, Argo AI, Bryan Salesky and Reinhard Stolle, Vice President, Argo Munich, said, "The addition of Argo Munich expands our employee base to more than 1,000 people worldwide. While we’re just getting to know our new team members, we already have a bond due to the vision we share to apply technology to improve people’s lives. Together, our story will be told not through our technology, but by how we make the world a better place.

Ford and Volkswagen to Share Development Costs 

Now Ford will share the development cost of self-driving technology with Volkswagen. The Volkswagen investment will give Argo.AI a scale and geographic reach along with Ford, notes the announcement.

Argo AI has offices in Detroit, Palo Alto, and Cranbury, N.J. The company also maintains fleet operations in Miami, Washington, D.C., and Austin.