Zoox

Company research

Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals

Updated Aug 5, 2026

Overview

Zoox is an Amazon-owned, independently operated autonomous-mobility company building a fully autonomous, all-electric ride-hailing service around a purpose-built robotaxi. It designs and operates the vehicle, autonomous-driving stack, fleet operations, charging, maintenance, and rider experience.

Primary product

Purpose-built, bidirectional all-electric autonomous robotaxi and the associated ride-hailing service/app.

Founded

2014

Headquarters

1149 Chess Drive, Foster City, California 94404, United States

Team size

Over 3,000; third-party estimate approximately 3,698 as of June 2026

Industry

Automotive

Sub-industry

Autonomous vehicles, robotics, and mobility-as-a-service / ride-hailing

Offices

Foster City, California (headquarters)

San Francisco Bay Area, California (Alameda, Bryant, Broadway operations sites)

Austin, Texas

Boston, Massachusetts

Las Vegas, Nevada

San Diego, California

Seattle, Washington

Hayward, California (Clawiter serial-production facility; Kato manufacturing site)

Banbury, United Kingdom

Business model

Directly operated autonomous ride-hailing service

Vertically integrated design and manufacture of purpose-built robotaxis

Fleet operations, charging, maintenance, and software platform

Amazon-owned strategic technology subsidiary

Funding

Stage

Acquired / corporate subsidiary; no publicly documented external equity round after 2019

Total raised

$990M

Latest round

Acquisition by Amazon · Jun 2020

Latest amount

$1.2B

Acquisition

Jun 2020 · Amazon

$1.2B

Series C / convertible note

Oct 2019

$200M

Series B

Jul 2018 · Mike Cannon-Brookes / Grok Ventures

$500M

Series A / undisclosed

Jan 2018 · CPP Investments

Series A

Oct 2016

$50M

Seed / early round

Jul 2015 · Lux Capital

$40M

Seed

Jan 2014 · Blackbird Ventures

$1.3M

People & investors

Leadership

Aicha Evans

Chief Executive Officer

Jesse Levinson

Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer

Ravi Naik

Chief Information Officer

Tulasi Siddhartha

Chief People Officer

Chris Nalevanko

General Counsel

Nelson Pedreiro

Senior Vice President, Hardware

Marc Wimmershoff

Vice President, Autonomy Software

Ravi Gopalan

Vice President, Firmware & Systems Integration

Kailash Sharma

Vice President, Program Management Office

Carly Wyatt

Vice President, Communications & Marketing

Bruce Baumgartner

Vice President, Supply Chain, Quality & Reliability

Andy Piper

Vice President, Vehicle Development

Corrado Lanzone

Vice President, Manufacturing Operations

Qi Hommes

Senior Director, System Design and Mission Assurance

Miguel Sainz

Senior Director, Software Systems

Founders

Tim Kentley-Klay

Co-Founder; former CEO

Investors

Composite Capital Management

CPP Investments

DFJ / Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Work & culture

Company materials emphasize being inquisitive, mission-driven, transparent, honest, accountable, and one team, with inclusion, trust, humility, openness, affinity groups, internships, and returnships. The work is highly interdisciplinary and execution-oriented.

Visa sponsorship

Limited

Compensation

Public job postings provide role-specific ranges rather than a company-wide compensation figure. One 2026 Foster City internship posting listed $6,500-$9,500 monthly, with possible medical insurance, 401(k), and housing stipend. Internship visa sponsorship is explicitly unavailable, although CPT/OPT may apply for eligible international students; full-time sponsorship was not established from the reviewed public evidence.

Benefits

Comprehensive health plans, including Cigna options

Mental-health support

Wellbeing program

Flexible time off

Family-planning support

Caregiver support

In-office meals and food program

401(k) and other role-dependent benefits

Intern housing stipend and relocation reimbursement where applicable

Paid time off and commuter benefits for interns

Product & market

Pricing

Initially free demonstration/public rides in several markets; Las Vegas commercial fares use a base fare plus distance and time, with possible destination/event fees, positioned around traditional ride-hail comfort pricing. San Francisco and other markets remained free pending permits as of August 2026.

Differentiators

—Purpose-built vehicle with no steering wheel, pedals, or driver's seat
—Bidirectional design and rider-oriented cabin with inward-facing seats
—Vertically integrated vehicle, autonomy stack, manufacturing, fleet operations, and rider app
—All-electric platform
—Direct control of charging, maintenance, upgrades, and service operations
—Amazon ownership and capital support
—Designed specifically for autonomous ride-hailing rather than retrofitting a conventional car

Technology

Autonomous-driving AI and machine learning

Computer vision and perception

Robotics

Sensor fusion and mapping

Simulation and data platforms

C++

Python

PyTorch

CUDA

Linux

ROS/DDS-style robotics middleware

React

JavaScript

Flask

Redis

Grafana

Google Cloud Storage

FreeRTOS

CATIA

Customers

Public riders in Las Vegas (commercial paid service scheduled to begin August 10, 2026)

Public riders in San Francisco, Austin, and Miami through free/public-service or testing programs

Amazon as corporate parent and strategic backer

Competitors

Waymo

Tesla

Aurora

Nuro

Wayve

Uber's autonomous-vehicle partnerships

Scale & contact

Estimated revenue

Approximately $100 million annually (third-party estimate; Zoox is private and does not publicly report revenue)

Signals & risks

Acquisition

Jun 2020

Amazon acquired Zoox for approximately $1.2-$1.3 billion; Zoox became an independently operated Amazon subsidiary.

Source

Acquisition

Jan 2022

Zoox acquired robotics company Strio.AI, described by Zoox as a talent/technology acquisition.

Source

Other

Zoox issued multiple software recalls involving hard braking, lane crossings, prediction of other road users, and incidents involving a passenger vehicle and an e-scooter rider.

Source

Other

Jul 2026

Zoox voluntarily recalled ADS software on 105 vehicles after an unoccupied robotaxi entered heavy smoke at an active emergency scene on June 20. Zoox reported no injuries and deployed an update by July 15.

Source

Other

Jul 2026

NHTSA granted a temporary commercial exemption from specified federal vehicle standards, allowing limited paid deployment; California commercial deployment still required additional permits.

Source

Latest news

Zoox to start charging for robotaxi rides in Las Vegas

TechCrunch · Aug 2026

Zoox announced that it will begin charging for Las Vegas rides on August 10, marking its first commercial paid robotaxi operation; fares combine base, distance, and time components.

Zoox's big bet on robotaxis starts in Las Vegas

Axios · Aug 2026

Zoox is beginning commercial scaling after federal approval, having carried nearly one million riders across Las Vegas, San Francisco, Austin, and Miami and driven more than three million public-road miles.

Zoox unveils production-ready robotaxi for U.S. expansion

The Robot Report · Aug 2026

Zoox unveiled a production-intent robotaxi based on rider feedback, with manufacturing in Hayward and a stated goal of scaling production toward 100 vehicles per week.

Zoox clears final federal hurdle to launch paid robotaxi service

TechCrunch · Jul 2026

NHTSA granted Zoox a temporary exemption from eight federal vehicle standards, enabling limited paid deployment of its steering-wheel- and pedal-free robotaxis.

Zoox issues software recall after a robotaxi got confused by heavy smoke

TechCrunch · Jul 2026

Zoox recalled software on 105 vehicles after an unoccupied vehicle entered a smoke-obscured emergency scene; the company said no injuries occurred and deployed a corrective update.

Jobs and careers at Zoox

237 jobs at Zoox

Recruiter, Business & Operations

Hybrid

People Experience

Foster City, CA

2d ago

Hybrid

Full-time