Driverless car firm Wayve bags £1.1bn investment ahead of major UK launch
British driverless car firm Wayve has secured a significant $1.5bn (£1.1bn) in funding, including major backing from Uber, Microsoft and chip giant Nvidia, as it prepares to launch robotaxi on UK roads.
The bulk of this capital, $1.2bn (£890m), is from the Series D funding round, one of the largest ever for a British start-up.
Institutional investors and car manufacturers, including Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Stellantis, participated in this round, which valued Wayve at $8.6 billion (£6.4 billion). Uber’s additional investment specifically targets driverless taxi services.
The funding comes as Wayve prepares to launch commercial robotaxi trials in London later this year in partnership with ride-hailing platform Uber.
The company is aiming for a full commercial launch in the city by 2026, with the aim of integrating its “supervised autonomy software” into consumer vehicles from 2027.
Wayve’s innovative technology is based on artificial intelligence models that learn to drive by analyzing video content, manipulating data, and recognizing complex patterns.
US rival Waymo also announced that it plans to launch driverless private rental cars in London from next year.
Wayve’s new funding round was led by investors Eclipse, Balderton and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with new investments from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Baillie Gifford, British Business Bank, Icehouse Ventures, Schroders Capital and other institutional investors.
Bosses said the investment would accelerate Wayve’s plans to introduce its technology into commercial vehicles.
Alex Kendall, co-founder and CEO of Wayve, said: “With $1.5 billion secured, we are building a fully addressable market that encompasses every vehicle that moves.
“Autonomy won’t scale with city-by-city robotaxi deployments alone.
“It will scale through a reliable platform that automakers and fleets can deploy globally and continuously improve.”
“We are extremely proud to continue deepening our partnership with Wayve, with plans to co-distribute in more than 10 markets around the world,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
“Wayve’s powerful end-to-end approach is purpose-built for scale, security, and effectiveness, and we’re excited to work with them across multiple OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and geographies, with more to share soon.”
Technology Minister Liz Kendall said: “Wayve is a powerful example of the strength, ambition and potential of Britain’s innovative firms.
“This funding raise demonstrates international confidence in our brilliant AI sector and reaffirms Britain’s position as Europe’s leading scaling ecosystem.
“We will continue to create the conditions for world-leading companies like Wayve to start, grow and scale, creating great jobs and opportunities for people in every corner of our country.”
