Former Waymo CFO jumps to self-driving startup Wayve

Elisa de Martel, who was main fiscal serviceman astatine Alphabet’s autonomous conveyance institution Waymo, has been hired to the aforesaid presumption astatine buzzy self-driving conveyance startup Wayve. Outgoing CFO Max Warburton, who held the presumption astatine Wayve since 2024, is moving into a strategical advisory relation supporting the company’s enactment team.

Her assignment arsenic CFO comes arsenic Wayve moves from improvement and investigating to a institution connected the verge of deploying its automated driving exertion connected 2 fronts: robotaxis and rider vehicles.

De Martel, who volition beryllium based retired of Sunnyvale, California, has a past of moving for tech companies, including arsenic CFO astatine industrial-grade 3D printing institution Carbon and an 11-year stint arsenic manufacturing concern manager astatine Apple. She was CFO astatine Waymo from 2022 to January 2026 — a captious play for the institution arsenic it began to commercially run successful respective cities and raised $5.6 billion successful a Series C fundraising circular that was led by its genitor institution and pushed its valuation to much than $45 billion.

Wayve present sits successful a likewise pivotal moment. The startup, which was founded successful 2017 and is present valued astatine astir $8.5 billion, attracted investors and automotive customers for its self-learning attack to its automated driving software. The institution developed a bundle furniture utilizing an end-to-end neural web that doesn’t trust connected high-definition maps, customized hardware, oregon hand-coded rules and lone uses information to thatch the conveyance however to drive.

The company’s tech is the ground of 2 products, an “eyes on” assisted-driving strategy and an “eyes off” afloat automated-driving system, which could beryllium applied to robotaxis oregon user vehicles that tin grip each of the driving successful definite environments. 

Wayve’s pitch, and the agnostic quality of its technology, has resonated with automakers already locked into definite hardware. It’s besides attracted investors — Wayve has raised $3.2 cardinal to day — and companies similar Uber that privation to usage a much susceptible mentation of the self-driving tech to deploy robotaxis.

Wayve CFO Elisa de MartelImage Credits:Wayve /

While de Martel has a well-documented vocation successful apical fiscal posts, it was her transportation to heavy tech that was peculiarly charismatic to Wayve’s leadership, including laminitis and CEO Alex Kendall, according to insiders who asked not to beryllium named.

As CFO astatine Wayve, she volition oversee fiscal strategy and planning, superior allocation, reporting, governance, treasury and tax. The institution said she volition besides enactment intimately with Wayve’s enforcement squad to enactment and counsel connected commercial, investor, and strategical concern deals.

Wayve has locked successful a fig of partnerships with automakers, including Nissan and Stellantis. The institution has besides made advancement connected the automated conveyance driving systems for robotaxis; the institution precocious launched nationalist rides successful London — with a quality information relation connected committee — and Tokyo is expected to travel soon.

Now the institution has to propulsion past this historically precarious constituent of aboriginal and constricted deployment and into a high-volume supplier to automotive.