Wayve has secured a $1.2 billion funding round that could rise to $1.5 billion with an additional $300 million from Uber tied to robotaxi deployments starting in London, bringing in three automakers, major venture and institutional firms, and returning backers Microsoft, Nvidia, and Uber. The U.K. startup is now valued at $8.6 billion, according to the company, and the round brings together investors that plan to use or support its automated driving software.
Funding Round And Valuation
The company said the round was led by Eclipse, Balderton, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2. New investors include the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Baillie Gifford, British Business Bank, Icehouse Ventures, Schroders Capital, and other global institutional investors. Global automakers Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Stellantis also participated and have said they plan to use Wayve’s technology. Nvidia, which took part in Wayve’s $1.05 billion Series C round, had said last year it was evaluating a $500 million strategic investment in the next raise. While Nvidia did participate in this round, founder and chief executive Alex Kendall did not disclose the amount or whether it was close to that figure. The total funding could increase by $300 million from Uber if robotaxi deployments move forward, beginning in London.
Technology And Products
Wayve, founded in 2017, uses a self-learning approach built on an end-to-end neural network that does not rely on high-definition maps and instead uses data to teach a vehicle how to drive. The company says this data-driven method supports two products, an “eyes on” assisted-driving system and an “eyes off” fully automated-driving system that can be used for robotaxis or consumer vehicles that handle all driving in certain environments. The software captures data from whatever sensors are on a vehicle and directs driving decisions, and it can run on the chips that original equipment manufacturers already have in their vehicles. Nvidia, which is also an investor, has worked with Wayve since 2018. The startup’s Gen 3 platform, shown last fall, uses Nvidia Drive AGX Thor as its in-vehicle compute system. Wayve said this platform will support eyes-off advanced driver-assistance systems and Level 4 features for city streets and highways.
Business Model And Customer Plans
Kendall described Wayve’s approach as contrarian in both technology and business model during an interview with TechCrunch on Tuesday. He said the company built end-to-end deep learning for autonomous driving early and is now taking a different path in commercialization by selling its “embodied AI” to automakers and technology companies rather than operating its own robotaxi service or building vehicles with bundled software. He said this model depends on software that can generalize across different hardware and environments. Kendall said that if an autonomy stack is tied to a specific sensor, compute setup, or mapping requirement, the company could not pursue this model.
Partners And Deployment Timelines
Nissan and Uber are customers of Wayve. Nissan said the startup’s software will be used to add features to its advanced driver-assistance systems starting in 2027. Uber said it plans to begin commercial trials later this year in vehicles equipped with Wayve’s software. Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement that the company plans to deploy with Wayve in more than 10 markets and to work across multiple original equipment manufacturers and regions, with more details to be shared later.
Featured image credits: FreeMalaysiaToday
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