Harvard Business School Association Honors Waymo as 2026 Entrepreneurial Company of the Year

Waymo was named the 2026 Entrepreneurial Company of the Year by the Harvard Business School Association of Northern California at a sold-out event in San Francisco on November 12, 2026. EIN Presswire reported the honor, which recognizes the company's work in autonomous mobility.

Waymo's Award and Its Robotaxi Reach

Waymo provides fully autonomous ride-hailing services in 15 U.S. markets, including the San Francisco Bay Area. The company says its Waymo Driver has accumulated more than 300 million miles of real-world driving experience.

"Waymo is proud to call the Bay Area home," said Steve Fieler, Chief Financial Officer of Waymo. "Autonomous driving is delivering real, measurable safety improvements in the communities we serve—while making transportation more accessible and sustainable."

Rajiv Parikh, Board Chair of the Harvard Business School Association of Northern California, said the award recognizes companies that introduce innovative technology while earning community trust. "By putting safety first and working closely with regulators and the communities it serves, Waymo exemplifies innovation, leadership, and positive community impact," Parikh said.

The association's Entrepreneurial Company of the Year award was launched in 1979 by Bill Draper, an early Silicon Valley venture capitalist who died in September 2026. Past honorees include Apple, Adobe, Netflix, Salesforce, Pixar, eBay, Yahoo!, Cisco, Oracle, NVIDIA, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Workday, Pinterest, Cloudflare, Rubrik and Wiz.

Waymo's Funding and Fleet Partnerships

Waymo's $16 billion funding round closed in February 2026 at a $126 billion post-money valuation, according to akta.pro company records. The round was led by Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global and Sequoia Capital, with participation from Alphabet, Andreessen Horowitz, Mubadala Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Silver Lake and Tiger Global. The same records list a $5 billion debt-funded round in October 2026 led by Blackstone and PIMCO, and total funding of $32.1 billion.

In June 2026, Waymo signed a multi-year partnership with Element Fleet Management for end-to-end autonomous fleet management, starting in San Diego. Lyft's Flexdrive car rental arm opened a depot in Nashville to service Waymo vehicles with about 70 employees, including current and former Lyft drivers moving into fleet maintenance roles.

Incidents and Expansion Before the Award

On November 9, 2026, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a recall query into 2,895 Waymo vehicles over safety violations when encountering school buses, Investing.com reported. That same day, Yahoo reported that Waymo had completed test runs to and from Orlando International Airport and was awaiting final approval from airport officials before launching driverless taxi service there.

On November 11, 2026, CleanTechnica reported that Waymo launched the Waymo Accessibility Network UK to co-design autonomous mobility with disability advocates and charities, with 10 inaugural partners.

Orlando Approval and Charlotte Launch

Waymo is awaiting final approval from Orlando International Airport officials before launching driverless taxi service there. The company plans to launch first in Charlotte by late next year, after mapping streets and testing with human drivers, Yahoo reported on November 7, 2026.