Travis Kalanick's new robotics firm, Atoms, has secured $1.7 billion in funding, with Andreessen Horowitz leading the charge. The round also included Bain Capital and Fifth Wall, with Uber joining as an investor.
Kalanick, who founded Uber before being ousted for alleged sexual harassment, is now aiming to digitize the physical world through Atoms. His plans include a 'wheelbase for robots' and expanding into mining after acquiring Pronto, a heavy industry automation company.
Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, joined Kalanick's board, praising his grit and domain-spanning skills in making the physical world more productive with AI and robotics. While details remain scarce, much of the new capital will likely go towards hiring to fuel Atoms' ambitious goals.
Kalanick wrote on X that: '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.'
