On July 22, Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick announced that his latest technology startup, Atoms, has completed a $1.7 billion equity and debt financing round. The funding was led by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Uber itself. Ben Horowitz, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, will join the Atoms board of directors. Banks including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan participated as debt financiers in the transaction.
In a blog post, Kalanick stated that Atoms is dedicated to advancing automation in industries such as mining, construction, heavy transport, and food production through the deployment of advanced robotics, aiming to achieve a "large-scale digital transformation." He asserted that "industrial AI is preparing for the next industrial revolution." Horowitz commented that Atoms represents the realization of Kalanick's "decades-long vision of digitizing the physical world," praising his cross-domain drive and scope as a rare entrepreneur capable of transforming traditional heavy industries.
Kalanick left Uber in 2017 following boardroom conflicts. Since 2018, he has been operating a "cloud kitchen" network providing delivery services for food delivery applications. In March of this year, Kalanick rebranded his real estate group, City Storage Systems, as Atoms and launched new business initiatives. In April, Atoms acquired Pronto, a mining-focused autonomous driving company founded by former Uber engineer Anthony Levandowski. Levandowski was previously convicted of stealing trade secrets from Google before receiving a presidential pardon.
Kalanick expressed regret over not having partnered with Andreessen Horowitz in the past, suggesting that Uber suffered during his ouster because the venture firm was not on the board. Uber currently faces growing competitive challenges from "robotaxi" services such as Alphabet's Waymo. The company has made a series of investments in autonomous driving startups including Nuro, Wayve, and Waabi.
Kalanick sold his final shares and exited the Uber board in 2019. During his tenure at Uber, the company faced criticism for management and cultural issues, leading to his resignation in 2017 following a critical report by former Attorney General Eric Holder. His cloud kitchen business has also previously faced complaints regarding workplace culture and underwent layoffs and location closures in 2023 as part of cost-control measures.