Gautam Gupta, Uber’s former head of finance, has joined Travis Kalanick’s robotics and industrial AI company Atoms as chief financial officer. The appointment comes two weeks after Atoms raised $1.7 billion in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz.
Gupta spent more than four years at Uber before leaving in 2017, shortly after Kalanick stepped down as chief executive. He later held senior finance roles at Opendoor and co-founded venture firm A*, which also invested in Atoms.
Atoms Reunites Several Former Uber Executives
Gupta’s appointment adds another former Uber executive to Atoms. Earlier this year, the company acquired Pronto, an autonomous technology startup led by former Uber and Google self-driving engineer Anthony Levandowski.
Kalanick has also recruited several other people who previously worked with him at Uber. He described the company’s latest funding round as an opportunity to complete a shift from software businesses toward technology that operates in the physical world.
Atoms grew out of CloudKitchens, the food-delivery infrastructure company Kalanick began building after leaving Uber. The company now describes its focus as physical automation across mining, transportation and manufacturing, using AI, robotics, software and hardware.
$1.7 Billion Round Funds Physical AI Expansion
Atoms announced its $1.7 billion investment in July, with Andreessen Horowitz leading the round and Ben Horowitz joining the board. Bain Capital, Fifth Wall, Chemistry, A*, K5 Global, Abstract, SV Angel and Alpha Square Group also participated.
Uber also invested in the round, reconnecting Kalanick with the company he co-founded. TechCrunch reported that Uber contributed about $100 million, although the ride-hailing company has not publicly disclosed the amount.
Atoms plans to develop specialised robotics for areas including mining, food production and transportation. Its official website says the company is building machines designed for specific industrial jobs rather than concentrating on general-purpose humanoid robots.
Gupta Steps Away From A*
Before joining Atoms, Gupta was a co-founder of venture firm A*, which he launched in 2020. He said A* made the largest investment in the fund’s history into Atoms before he decided to leave the firm and take the CFO position.
Gupta first backed Uber in 2012 while working as a vice president at Goldman Sachs and joined the company the following year. He remained there until 2017 and later worked at Opendoor, including as chief financial officer.
His appointment gives Kalanick another senior executive with experience scaling Uber during its rapid expansion. Atoms is now hiring across its engineering and operations teams as it uses its new funding to expand its industrial AI and robotics businesses.
Featured image credits: Adam Tinworth via Flickr
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