Atoms Raises $1.7 Billion Funding Round Led by a16z for Physical AI

Atoms, the robotics and automation company founded by Travis Kalanick, has raised $1.7 billion in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

Bain Capital, Fifth Wall, and Uber participated in the round, reconnecting Kalanick with the ride-hailing company he co-founded. Following the investment, Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz will join Atoms' board of directors.

Atoms operates as a rebranded holding company built atop CloudKitchens, Kalanick's ghost kitchen venture. In March, Kalanick announced the acquisition of Pronto, a heavy industry automation firm run by former Uber colleague Anthony Levandowski.

Kalanick stated his desire to enter heavy industries such as mining with Atoms and create a flexible "wheelbase for robots" to digitize physical work.

In a post on X regarding the fundraise, Travis Kalanick stated:

"On many levels, this round is a bit of unfinished business. Fuel to complete the bits-to-atoms story arc we started at Uber, continued at CloudKitchens and will now finish at Atoms. 16 years ago, I started a journey to digitize the physical world. Understand, predict and control the physical world with software. Building 'atoms-based' computers where CPU is manufacturing, storage is real estate, and network is transportation."

Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, stated:

"Travis Is Back. It takes a rare kind of entrepreneur to change these old-school, heavy parts of our economy. They need a gritty work ethic, drive, and range that spans across domains, from software architecture to mechanical engineering. Travis is that guy. I think the most valuable thing someone could do with AI and robotics is to repeat the same thing Uber did for transportation, or that computers did for the digital world: to make everything and everyone more productive."

Atoms plans to use the capital to recruit top talent and accelerate industrial automation deployment across complex physical environments.