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Wayve Hires Former Waymo CFO for Finance and Commercial Deals

Elisa de Martel takes on capital allocation and partnership work while the startup operates supervised passenger rides in London.

By 2 min read
Wayve Hires Former Waymo CFO for Finance and Commercial Deals
Wayve Hires Former Waymo CFO for Finance and Commercial Deals

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Wayve is bringing in Elisa de Martel, the former chief financial officer of Waymo, to oversee both its finances and the commercial deals behind its autonomous-driving push. She replaces Max Warburton, who becomes a strategic adviser to Wayve’s leadership team. De Martel was Waymo’s CFO from 2022 through January 2026. During that period, Waymo began commercial operations in several cities and raised a five-point-six-billion-dollar Series C, according to TechCrunch. Her background also includes finance leadership at Carbon and eleven years as Apple’s manufacturing finance director. At Wayve, her brief spans financial reporting, governance, treasury, tax, and capital allocation. It also includes supporting commercial, investor, and strategic-partnership negotiations with the executive team. That combination matters because Wayve is pursuing two routes to market: robotaxis, and assisted or automated-driving systems supplied through vehicle partnerships with Nissan and Stellantis. The company has already begun public passenger rides in London, but these are supervised trips, not fully driverless service. A human safety operator remains onboard. Tokyo is expected to follow, although Wayve has not given a launch date. Wayve says its software uses an end-to-end neural network that learns driving behavior from data, rather than relying on high-definition maps, custom hardware, or hand-coded rules. The startup has raised three-point-two billion dollars and is valued at about eight-point-five billion. The key thing to watch is whether de Martel can help allocate that capital and support the partnerships as Wayve moves from London testing toward broader deployments.

Story brief

3 key points

Wayve is consolidating financial control and commercial-deal support under Elisa de Martel, who becomes CFO after leading Waymo’s finance function through January 2026. She inherits a $3.2 billion-funded, roughly $8.5 billion-valued company pursuing two routes: robotaxis and assisted or automated driving partnerships for passenger vehicles. The hire could strengthen capital allocation and negotiations with Nissan...

  1. 01

    De Martel’s Waymo tenure included commercial launches and a $5.6 billion Series C.

  2. 02

    Wayve’s London passenger rides are not fully driverless; a human safety operator remains onboard.

  3. 03

    Her remit includes reporting, governance, treasury, tax, capital allocation, and strategic deal support.

Wayve has put a former Waymo finance chief in charge of the financial planning and commercial deals behind its autonomous-driving business. Elisa de Martel is joining as chief financial officer, replacing Max Warburton, who is moving into a strategic advisory role for the leadership team.

De Martel was Waymo’s CFO from 2022 through January 2026. TechCrunch says that period included Waymo’s start of commercial operations in several cities and a $5.6 billion Series C. Before Waymo, she was CFO of industrial 3D-printing company Carbon and spent 11 years as Apple’s manufacturing finance director.

One role, from planning to partnerships

  • Financial strategy, planning and capital allocation.
  • Reporting, governance, treasury and tax.
  • Support for commercial, investor and strategic-partnership deals with Wayve’s executive team.

A business with two deployment routes

The appointment arrives while Wayve is pursuing both robotaxi and passenger-vehicle applications. It has partnerships with Nissan and Stellantis, and has launched public passenger rides in London with a human safety operator onboard. TechCrunch reports that Tokyo is expected to follow, though no timing was specified.

Those London trips are a public service, but not a fully driverless one: the safety operator remains aboard. Wayve’s software uses an end-to-end neural network, meaning it learns driving behavior from data rather than relying on high-definition maps, custom hardware or hand-coded rules, according to TechCrunch. The company describes that software as a basis for both assisted-driving and fully automated-driving systems.

Financial oversight at a heavily backed startup

Wayve has raised $3.2 billion to date and is valued at about $8.5 billion, according to TechCrunch. De Martel’s remit now covers how that capital is allocated, how the company reports and governs its finances, and how it supports the partnerships and commercial arrangements around its driving systems. Warburton, Wayve’s CFO since 2024, will remain involved as a strategic adviser.

Sources

  1. techcrunch.comFormer Waymo CFO jumps to self-driving startup Wayve | TechCrunch

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