{"id":10086,"date":"2025-08-12T14:14:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T18:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T14:14:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T18:14:26","slug":"waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/","title":{"rendered":"Waabi Appoints Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron to Lead Self-Driving Truck Commercialization"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Toronto-based startup Waabi has appointed Lior Ron, the former CEO of Uber Freight, as its new Chief Operating Officer. This strategic hire is part of Waabi&#8217;s plan to transition from research and development to the commercialization of its AI-powered, self-driving trucks by the end of the year. Waabi, founded by Raquel Urtasun, aims to deploy fully autonomous trucks currently operating in Texas with human drivers onboard. Ron, who co-founded the self-driving tech company Otto, will lead Waabi&#8217;s go-to-market strategy and strengthen industry partnerships. Waabi&#8217;s collaboration with Uber Freight continues, with both companies working to expand their joint operations in autonomous trucking. Waabi has secured significant investments, including a $275-million Series B funding round co-led by Uber, and has partnered with Volvo to commercialize self-driving trucks. The company is advocating for a regulatory framework in Canada to support the deployment of AI-driven vehicles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Toronto-based startup Waabi has appointed Lior Ron, the former CEO of Uber Freight, as its new Chief Operating Officer. This strategic hire is part of Waabi&#8217;s plan to transition from&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1586],"tags":[1969,723,450,3028,505],"class_list":["post-10086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ai-commercialization","tag-autonomous-vehicles","tag-ontario-startup-news","tag-self-driving-technology","tag-toronto-startup-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Waabi Appoints Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron to Lead Self-Driving Truck Commercialization - Startup Ecosystem Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Waabi Appoints Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron to Lead Self-Driving Truck Commercialization - Startup Ecosystem Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Toronto-based startup Waabi has appointed Lior Ron, the former CEO of Uber Freight, as its new Chief Operating Officer. This strategic hire is part of Waabi&#8217;s plan to transition from...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Startup Ecosystem Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-12T18:14:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/default-pic_big.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Startup Eco System\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Startup Eco System\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Startup Eco System\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ebf38463111787b50c88f6fcd33f9c28\"},\"headline\":\"Waabi Appoints Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron to Lead Self-Driving Truck Commercialization\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-12T18:14:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":154,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/default-pic_big.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"AI commercialization\",\"Autonomous vehicles\",\"Ontario startup news\",\"Self-driving technology\",\"Toronto startup news\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Toronto\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\\\/\",\"name\":\"Waabi Appoints Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron to Lead Self-Driving Truck Commercialization - Startup Ecosystem Canada\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/default-pic_big.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-12T18:14:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ebf38463111787b50c88f6fcd33f9c28\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/default-pic_big.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/default-pic_big.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Waabi Appoints Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron to Lead Self-Driving Truck Commercialization\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Startup Ecosystem Canada\",\"description\":\"Largest Startup Community in Canada\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ebf38463111787b50c88f6fcd33f9c28\",\"name\":\"Startup Eco System\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a0296599ae4d98b5f644a6ebd0f36ee52f2642dac74ac9fee14854ec4a47d61d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a0296599ae4d98b5f644a6ebd0f36ee52f2642dac74ac9fee14854ec4a47d61d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a0296599ae4d98b5f644a6ebd0f36ee52f2642dac74ac9fee14854ec4a47d61d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Startup Eco System\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.startupecosystem.ca\\\/news\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Waabi Appoints Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron to Lead Self-Driving Truck Commercialization - Startup Ecosystem Canada","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Waabi Appoints Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron to Lead Self-Driving Truck Commercialization - Startup Ecosystem Canada","og_description":"Toronto-based startup Waabi has appointed Lior Ron, the former CEO of Uber Freight, as its new Chief Operating Officer. This strategic hire is part of Waabi&#8217;s plan to transition from...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/","og_site_name":"Startup Ecosystem Canada","article_published_time":"2025-08-12T18:14:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/default-pic_big.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Startup Eco System","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Startup Eco System","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/"},"author":{"name":"Startup Eco System","@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ebf38463111787b50c88f6fcd33f9c28"},"headline":"Waabi Appoints Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron to Lead Self-Driving Truck Commercialization","datePublished":"2025-08-12T18:14:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/"},"wordCount":154,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/default-pic_big.jpg","keywords":["AI commercialization","Autonomous vehicles","Ontario startup news","Self-driving technology","Toronto startup news"],"articleSection":["Toronto"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/","url":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/","name":"Waabi Appoints Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron to Lead Self-Driving Truck Commercialization - Startup Ecosystem Canada","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/default-pic_big.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-12T18:14:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ebf38463111787b50c88f6fcd33f9c28"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/default-pic_big.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/default-pic_big.jpg","width":1000,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/waabi-appoints-uber-freight-ceo-lior-ron-to-lead-self-driving-truck-commercialization\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Waabi Appoints Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron to Lead Self-Driving Truck Commercialization"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/","name":"Startup Ecosystem Canada","description":"Largest Startup Community in Canada","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/ebf38463111787b50c88f6fcd33f9c28","name":"Startup Eco System","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a0296599ae4d98b5f644a6ebd0f36ee52f2642dac74ac9fee14854ec4a47d61d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a0296599ae4d98b5f644a6ebd0f36ee52f2642dac74ac9fee14854ec4a47d61d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a0296599ae4d98b5f644a6ebd0f36ee52f2642dac74ac9fee14854ec4a47d61d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Startup Eco System"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupecosystem.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}