The Series C funding round will be used to develop the next generation of artificial intelligence-powered vehicles and along with SoftBank, Nvidia and Microsoft also joined the funding round in what is the biggest investment to date in a European AI startup.
Wayve, which was founded in London in 2017, will use the funds to develop and launch the first “embodied AI” technology for self-driving vehicles in the UK.
Embodied AI enables automated vehicles to learn from and interact with a real-world environment, including the ability to learn from situations that do not follow strict patterns or rules, for example, unexpected actions by drivers or pedestrians.
According to Alex Kendall, a co-founder and the chief executive of Wayve,“This investment will help us launch our embodied AI products and expand our operations globally. It sends a crucial signal to the market of the strength of the UK’s AI ecosystem, and we look forward to watching more AI companies here thrive and scale.”
Wayve’s technology has been integrated into six vehicle platforms including electric cars such as the Jaguar I-Pace and the Ford Mustang MachE, as part of advanced driver assistance systems.
Wayve has carried out a number of autonomous car trials here in the UK, working alongside Oxa, formerly called Oxbotica, and the Academy of Robotics.
The self-driving vehicle industry in the UK is still in its infancy, but the government expects it to be worth £42bn and to create 38,000 skilled jobs by 2035. Between 2018 and 2022, the sector generated £475m of investment and created 1,500 new jobs.
