Travis Kalanick's robotics company raises $1.7B, led by a16z
News Source
β’Wed, 22 Jul 2026 18:50:44 +0000
π° What Happened
Travis Kalanick's company Atoms raised $1.7 billion in funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round, and Ben Horowitz will join the board. Uber also invested, which is notable because Uber fired Kalanick as CEO in 2017. Atoms is a rebranded version of Cloud Kitchens, a ghost kitchen business Kalanick started after leaving Uber. He also bought Pronto, an automation company, earlier this year. Kalanick says he wants to build systems that control the physical world with software.
π The Backstory
Travis Kalanick co-founded Uber and turned it into a giant company. But he was forced out in 2017 after reports of a toxic workplace culture. He then started Cloud Kitchens, which rents kitchen spaces for delivery-only restaurants. Now Atoms wants to go beyond food into mining and heavy industry automation. Kalanick has talked about buying the US arm of Chinese self-driving company Pony AI, but those talks ended. The $1.7 billion round is one of the biggest this year and shows investors still believe in Kalanick's vision.
π― Why It Matters
This shows that even controversial founders can get huge amounts of money if investors believe in their ideas. The push to automate more industries will change the kinds of jobs available to regular people.
Travis Kalanick's company Atoms raised $1.7 billion in funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round, and Ben Horowitz will join the board. Uber also invested, which is notable because Uber fired Kalanick as CEO in 2017. Atoms is a rebranded version of Cloud Kitchens, a ghost kitchen business Kalanick started after leaving Uber. He also bought Pronto, an automation company, earlier this year. Kalanick says he wants to build systems that control the physical world with software.
Travis Kalanick co-founded Uber and turned it into a giant company. But he was forced out in 2017 after reports of a toxic workplace culture. He then started Cloud Kitchens, which rents kitchen spaces for delivery-only restaurants. Now Atoms wants to go beyond food into mining and heavy industry automation. Kalanick has talked about buying the US arm of Chinese self-driving company Pony AI, but those talks ended. The $1.7 billion round is one of the biggest this year and shows investors still believe in Kalanick's vision.
This shows that even controversial founders can get huge amounts of money if investors believe in their ideas. The push to automate more industries will change the kinds of jobs available to regular people.