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Uber ( UBER ) outlines three business models for robotaxi strategy

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CFO says robotaxi investments will be modest compared to

capital

returns

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Investments expected to pay off, but profitability years

away,

investors say

By Akash Sriram

Aug 6 (Reuters) - Uber ( UBER ) is in talks with private

equity firms and banks to secure funds to build its robotaxi

business, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said, as the ride-hailing giant

bets on a mass roll-out of the nascent and much-scrutinized

technology.

The company has been offering robotaxis from Alphabet

-owned Waymo on its ride-hailing app in Austin and

Atlanta. It also struck a $300 million partnership in July that

will allow it to deploy more than 20,000 vehicles, made by

electric-vehicle firm Lucid and powered by self-driving tech

from Nuro, over six years.

Khosrowshahi on Wednesday pitched the tie-ups as part of a

larger plan that involves three robotaxi business models: paying

partners that own such vehicles a fixed rate, sharing revenue

with fleet operators and owning vehicles while licensing

software for self-driving technology.

"We are talking to private equity players, we have talked to

banks," the CEO said. "Once we prove the revenue model, how much

these cars can generate on a per day basis, there will be plenty

of financing to go around."

For now, Uber ( UBER ) said it was planning on using a "modest"

portion of its around $7 billion in annual cash flows to fund

deployments. It might also sell minority stakes in companies to

aid the expansion, it said.

Analysts have said that mass robotaxi deployment could lower

driver-reliant Uber's ( UBER ) operating costs and boost profitability.

Despite strong regulatory scrutiny and doubts about wider

adoption, several companies including Tesla and U.S.

market leader Waymo have been rushing to roll out robotaxis, a

business Elon Musk has said could be worth trillions of dollars.

Waymo is present in five U.S. cities including San

Francisco, while Tesla launched a robotaxi service in Austin in

June and started ride-hailing operations in the Bay Area last

month.

Uber ( UBER ) said it has not yet seen any changes in demand trends

in Austin or San Francisco since Tesla's robotaxi

service was launched in the cities.

"To a lot of these companies, it does seem this will be a

worthwhile endeavor ... as there are lofty predictions about the

robotaxi industry's total addressable market," said Ken Mahoney,

CEO of Mahoney Asset Management.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni

and Shinjini Ganguli)