Driverless car firm Wayve bags £1.1bn investment to help launch on UK roads

Wayve, the self-driving car firm set to launch robotaxis on UK roads, has raised 1.5 billion US dollars (£1.1 billion) from investors including Uber, Microsoft and chip giant Nvidia.

It has secured 1.2 billion dollars (£890 million) through a funding round backed by the major tech firms, institutional investors and car makers, with Uber investing extra funds to help deliver its driverless taxi plans.

The Series D funding round, which is one of the largest ever for a British start-up, values the London-based business at around 8.6 billion dollars (£6.4 billion).

Major car manufacturers Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Stellantis have also injected cash as part of the deal.

It comes as Wayve prepares to launch robotaxis in London later this year as part of a partnership with ride-hailing platform Uber.

Wayve said it will launch the commercial robotaxi trials in the city in 2026 with ambitions to deploy its “supervised autonomy software” in consumer vehicles from 2027.

The company’s technology used artificial intelligence models which learn how to drive using video content, driving data and recognising patterns.

US rival Waymo has also revealed plans to make its driverless private hire vehicles available in London from next year.

Wayve’s fresh funding round was led by investors Eclipse, Balderton and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and also saw new investment from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Baillie Gifford, British Business Bank, Icehouse Ventures, Schroders Capital and other institutional investors.

Bosses said the investment will accelerate Wayve’s plans to launch its technology into commercial vehicles.

Alex Kendall, co-founder and chief executive of Wayve, said: “With 1.5 billion dollars secured, we are building for a total addressable market that spans every vehicle that moves.

“Autonomy will not scale through city-by-city robotaxi deployments alone.

“It will scale through a trusted platform that automakers and fleets can deploy globally and improve continuously.”

Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said: “We are very proud to continue to deepen our partnership with Wayve, with plans to deploy together in more than 10 markets around the world.

“Wayve’s powerful end-to-end approach is purpose-built for scale, safety and effectiveness, and we’re excited to work with them across multiple OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and geographies, which we’ll share more about soon.”

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: “Wayve is a powerful example of the strength, ambition and potential of Britain’s innovative firms.

“This fund raise demonstrates the international confidence in our brilliant AI sector and reaffirms Britain’s position as the leading scale-up ecosystem in Europe.

“We will continue to create the conditions for world-leading firms like Wayve to start, grow and scale, creating great jobs and opportunities for people in every corner of our country.”