Autonomous vehicle software startup Wayve has announced that it had raised £1.1 billion from a host of Big Tech giants and major automakers.
The funding round, which values the startup at £6.4 billion, includes almost £900 million from investors including Microsoft, Nvidia, and Uber, as well as Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Stellantis, says Business Insider.
It also includes additional capital from Uber, which is tied to deployments of Wayve-powered robotaxis across the globe. The two companies have a deal to launch self-driving vehicles on Uber’s app in over 10 markets worldwide, starting with London this year.
“We’ve been learning to drive on British roads for the last eight years, and so this is our home turf,” said Alex Kendall, CEO of Wayve, adding that the latest funding round is key to pursuing the company’s ambition to license its software to major automakers and robotaxi fleet platforms like Uber.
Unlike Tesla or Waymo, Wayve is solely focused on developing software for other companies looking to deploy self-driving cars. It is not building its own fleet of robotaxis.
Kendall added that Wayve’s AI driver is designed to be generalizable – the same way a human can quickly learn to drive different cars and in new cities.
That allows Wayve’s technology to quickly adapt to new driving environments and learn new road rules, from switching to the opposite side of the road to right turns at a red light, without relying on high-definition mapping and sensors, the approach taken by rivals like Waymo. It also allows the AI driver to be adapted by different automakers, which may have different sensor configurations on their cars, such as lidar or cameras.
(Picture: Wayve)
