Wayve Secures $1.5B From Nvidia, Uber, and Automakers to Scale Self-Driving AI Globally

Self-driving tech startup Wayve raises $1.2B from Nvidia, Uber, and three automakers | TechCrunch

Wayve's self-driving tech has attracted a diverse set of investors in the company's latest $1.2 billion funding round, including three automakers, top venture and institutional firms, and returning backers Microsoft, Nvidia, and Uber. Everyone, it seems, wants a piece of the U.K. startup, which is now valued at $8.6 billion. The funding round illustrates the eagerness among Big Tech, legacy automotive, and the investor community to profit from the burgeoning automated driving industry. Wayve provides an alternative to the other choices on the automated driving menu, founder and CEO Alex Kendall told TechCrunch in an interview Tuesday. Or as he puts it, the "contrarian" option -- in its approach to tech, as well as its business model. "I think the technology chessboard is set around where different companies have invested on the technology strategy, and now the commercial chessboard is being arranged," Kendall said. "We took a very contrarian view on the technology side. We were the first to build end-to-end deep learning for autonomous driving, and we pioneered this approach. Now, when it comes to this phase of moving into commercialization, we're also taking a contrarian business model approach." Wayve, which launched in 2017, uses a self-learning approach to its software. The company developed a software layer using an end-to-end neural network that doesn't require high-definition maps and only uses data to teach the vehicle how to drive. This data-driven learning approach is used for two products: an "eyes on" assisted-driving system and an "eyes off" fully automated-driving system that could be applied to robotaxis or consumer vehicles that can handle all of the driving in certain environments. The company's pitch to customers is the agnostic nature of its technology, which is not reliant on specific sensors or maps. The automated-driving software captures data from whatever sensors are on the vehicle and directs the system's driving decisions. Wayve's software can also run on whatever chip its OEM partners already have in their vehicles. It should be noted, however, that Nvidia, which is also a backer, has had a close development relationship with Wayve since 2018. The startup's Gen 3 platform, which was unveiled last fall, uses the in-vehicle compute autonomous vehicle development kit called Nvidia Drive AGX Thor. The Gen 3 platform will allow Wayve to offer eyes-off advanced driving-assistance systems and Level 4 driverless features that will work on city streets and highways. The company's tech is somewhat similar to how Tesla has approached automated driving, although there are key differences in their business models. Wayve doesn't want to be the operator of its hands-off driving-assistance system or its "eyes-off" fully automated-driving system. (For comparison, Waymo is largely the operator of its robotaxis, although it does have partners.) Nor does Wayve want to build vehicles with its own software, an approach Tesla takes. Instead, it is selling its "embodied AI" to automakers and other tech companies like Uber. Kendall argues that this is the business model with the largest addressable market, but it's only available because Wayve built an AI that generalizes. "If you build an autonomy stack that's specific to a sensor or compute architecture, if you build it where it requires mapping or something like this, then you can't take option three," Kendall said, referring to the business model option his company has chosen. Nissan and Uber are both Wayve customers. Nissan said the startup's self-driving software will be used to beef up the advanced driver-assistance system in its cars starting in 2027. Meanwhile, this year Uber plans to launch commercial trials in vehicles equipped with Wayve's software. Its relationship with Uber appears poised to stretch well beyond a pilot program, though. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's statement Tuesday provides a hint at the scope of its partnership with, and investment in, Wayve. "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 and geographies, which we'll share more about soon." 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, the company said. Global automakers Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Stellantis -- all of which plan to use Wayve's technology -- also participated. Nvidia, which participated in Wayve's $1.05 billion Series C round, said last year it was evaluating a $500 million strategic investment in its next raise. While Nvidia did participate, Kendall wouldn't disclose the exact amount of its investment or whether it was close to that $500 million figure.

Self-Driving Startup Wayve Raises $1.5 Billion for Robotaxi Wars

Wayve, the UK autonomous driving software startup, has raised $1.5 billion in funding at an $8.6 billion valuation as it prepares to go up against Chinese and US rivals to roll out self-driving taxis. The funding comprises $1.2 billion from lead investors Eclipse Ventures LLC, Balderton Capital and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Baillie Gifford and the British Business Bank among others, Wayve said in a statement. Existing backers Microsoft Corp., Nvidia Corp. and ride-hail giant Uber Technologies Inc. also invested. Uber committed an additional $300 million tranche, contingent on Wayve hitting certain milestones, to launch self-driving taxis running on the startup's software, starting in London this year. WATCH: Wayve Ltd. CEO Alex Kendall discusses the UK self-driving company's global autonomy platform, its partnerships with Nissan, Mercedes and Stellantis, and plans for mass production of robotaxis. The UK capital has emerged as a testing ground for self-driving car companies globally, with California's Waymo set to roll out a commercial robotaxi service in the city later this year, and both Uber and its competitor Lyft launching trials in partnership with Chinese tech company Baidu Inc. Though the city is not an obvious place to test autonomous vehicles, thanks to poor weather and plentiful narrow roads, the trials follow the UK government easing the rules on self-driving cars and buses operating on public streets. Wayve will be hoping to benefit from the home advantage, and the fact it mostly aims to deploy its software with partners rather than managing large, expensive fleets of its own vehicles. Its financial backers include carmakers Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Nissan Motor Co. and Stellantis NV. Still, it has less financial muscle than some of its rivals, with Waymo raising $16 billion earlier in February. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg may send me offers and promotions. Plus Signed UpPlus Sign UpPlus Sign Up By submitting my information, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. The company was founded in 2017 by two machine learning PhD students at Cambridge University, and offers software to enable cars to learn, perceive, understand and navigate complex real-world environments. Rather than relying on traditional rule-based software or pre-mapped routes, Wayve's system is designed to generalize across cities and vehicle types without first needing to create detailed maps. Over the past year, Wayve has conducted driving tests in more than 500 cities across Europe, North America and Japan without city-specific fine-tuning before deployment. The company has partnered with Nissan to develop the next iteration of the Japanese carmaker's ProPilot driver assistance system to roll out in 2027. These will be the first vehicles available for consumer purchase to feature Wayve's AI technology. "If proved safe and reliable, Wayve's end-to-end AI could give the startup a strategic edge over larger AV rivals, thanks to its higher flexibility and lower costs," according to a Bloomberg Intelligence report. Self-driving taxis are set to arrive in other European cities this year, after Estonian ride-hailing company Bolt partnered with Chinese artificial intelligence firm Pony.AI and Stellantis.

UK self-driving startup Wayve raises $1.2 billion from investors including Mercedes, Stellantis

LONDON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - British self-driving startup Wayve said on Wednesday it has raised $1.2 billion from investors including Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, Nissan and Uber as it scales up robotaxi deployments and works with global automakers on driver assistance technology. Wayve said that including "additional milestone-based" investments from Uber (UBER.N), opens new tab, it has secured $1.5 billion in funding with this round, bringing its total raised so far to $2.8 billion and boosting its valuation to $8.6 billion. The Series D investment also included funding from Nvida (NVDA.O), opens new tab, Microsoft <MSFT.O and a number of institutional investors. Wayve CEO Alex Kendall told Reuters the startup still has the "vast majority of the capital" from its last $1.05 billion funding round in 2024, which was led by Softbank Group (9984.T), opens new tab. "We have a war chest... that demonstrates that we've got strength of balance sheet to not just launch products but maintain them in the market for decades," Kendall said. The funding announcement comes amid renewed investor interest in autonomous vehicles as chipmaker Nvidia and others insist that AI has brought truly self-driving cars within reach. Developing robotaxis has proven harder than expected, with automakers including General Motors, Ford and Stellantis bailing on vastly expensive efforts to develop self-driving cars. Wayve has only announced one robotaxi deployment so far for this year, with Uber in London, where U.S. robotaxi company Waymo, owned by Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, also plans to launch. Kendall said Wayve will roll out robotaxi deployments with Uber in 10 cities globally in 2026, though he declined to say which cities. Last month, Uber said it will deploy robotaxis in up to 15 cities globally by the end of 2026 and expand services to Madrid, Hong Kong, Houston and Zurich, with Hong Kong set to be its first autonomous ride market in Asia. Wayve is also providing its driver assistance and self-driving technology to a number of automakers. Nissan (7201.T), opens new tab announced last year it was testing a new driver-assistance system using Wayve technology that should launch in Japan in the automaker's 2027 financial year. Wayve is also working with Mercedes (MBGn.DE), opens new tab and Stellantis (STLAM.MI), opens new tab on "consumer and robotaxi applications," Kendall said. "This is a chance for us to deepen our strategic partnerships with Stellantis and Mercedes," he said. He declined to say which other automakers Wayve is working with. "The future is that every vehicle is going to be autonomous," Kendall said. "We provide the intelligence platform for automakers to build the products they dream of." He said that an initial public offering is still the company's long-term plan. "But we clearly need to do a lot of work to earn the right to have that conversation," Kendall said. Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Susan Fenton Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Business * ADAS, AV & Safety * Software-Defined Vehicle * Sustainable & EV Supply Chain

Nvidia, Microsoft back self-driving firm Wayve as it hits $8.6 billion valuation

Wayve CEO talks AI driver assistance collaboration with Nissan Founded in 2017, U.K.-based Wayve is building autonomous driving software and AI models and has become one of Europe's most valuable startups. The company had raised upwards of $1 billion prior to this round. In 2025, Wayve signed a partnership with Nissan to integrate its AI into the company's driver-assistance systems, with vehicles featuring the tech to be deployed from 2027. The startup also has plans with Uber to launch public robotaxi trials beginning in London in 2026, before a wider rollout to more than 10 markets globally, Wayve said. While autonomous driving has been promised by tech companies for years, the sector has faced technical and regulatory hurdles. Level 5 automation, where cars self-drive anywhere without the need for humans in the loop, has remained elusive. But Recent advances in AI have led to renewed hope in the sector. On Tuesday, Alphabet-owned Waymo announced it had opened its robotaxi service to some public passengers in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has increasingly been touting the company's credentials as an autonomous mobility leader and Amazon's Zoox opened up rides to the public in 2025.

Wayve raises $1.5 Billion in Series D to scale its autonomous driving AI

London-based autonomous driving startup Wayve has just closed a major funding round, pulling in roughly $1.5 billion and lifting its valuation to about $8.6 billion. The investment positions the company as one of the United Kingdom's most highly valued AI ventures and marks a shift from research toward real-world deployment. The core of the round is a $1.2 billion Series D led by financial investors including Eclipse, Balderton and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from global institutions such as Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Baillie Gifford. Big technology names Microsoft and NVIDIA joined the list of backers, alongside ride-hailing platform Uber and major automakers Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Stellantis. Uber has also committed additional milestone-based funding tied to deployment targets. Wayve was founded in 2017 by Cambridge researchers Alex Kendall and Amar Shah. Unlike many autonomous vehicle efforts that rely on detailed maps and hand-coded rules, Wayve has built what it calls an "embodied AI" driving system. The software learns from driving data and aims to generalize across different cities and vehicle types without extensive local tuning. In 2025 Wayve's AI system was tested in more than 500 cities worldwide, often without prior training in those locations, illustrating its ability to adapt to new environments. The new capital is earmarked to help move outside the lab. This year Wayve plans commercial robotaxi trials with Uber in London, with an international expansion to more than ten markets expected in 2026. Starting in 2027, the company says it will bring supervised autonomy software, capable of hands-off driving under certain conditions, to consumer vehicles through partnerships such as the one with Nissan. The funding round and strategic backing highlight growing investor interest in autonomous driving after years of costly development and technology setbacks in the industry. Wayve's approach, licensing adaptable AI software rather than building its own fleet of vehicles, gives it a different path to commercialization than some competitors. With this latest round secured, Wayve's leadership says the company will focus on scaling its AI system globally and supporting partners through deployment, while keeping an eye on long-term milestones such as further technology development and, potentially, a public listing in the future.

Wayve raises $1.2bn with Uber backing ahead of London AV pilot

Uber and Wayve will be launching a public AV road trial in London this spring. London-based autonomous driving technology maker Wayve has raised $1.2bn in a Series D round, bringing the 2017-founded start-up to a post-money valuation of $8.6bn. The Financial Times had reported plans for a large Wayve raise as early as October last year. The billion-dollar-plus round announced today (25 February) was led by Eclipse, Balderton and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and brought in new investments from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Baillie Gifford, British Business Bank, Icehouse Ventures, and Schroders Capital, among others. The Series D received support from US-based taxi service platform Uber, which has huge plans to become the leading robotaxi service provider worldwide. Last January, Uber partnered with Wayve to launch a public road trial for autonomous vehicles (AV) in London, set to begin this spring. The company has committed additional capital to Wayve to support multi-year deployments of its AI-powered robotaxis on Uber's network. The plans include scaling Wayve-powered Uber robotaxis to more than 10 markets globally. As part of the partnership, Wayve will be deploying its AI 'driver' in vehicles with level 4 (L4) capacity with participating automakers. L4 is an advanced AV capability, which allows AI systems to "act with human-like judgement" when driving. L2-vehicles, that allow autonomous steering and navigation under human supervision, will be available for general consumers to purchase from 2027, Wayve said. Other backers in the fresh round included Nvidia, Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Stellantis. Nvidia unveiled a family of open-source AI models in January that target advanced reasoning-based AVs. Last year, CEO Jensen Huang went as far as to say that robotaxis represented Nvidia's second biggest market for growth following AI. Nvidia already agreed to back Wayve with $500m last September. Wayve licenses its AI driver technology directly to automakers, providing them with the tools to customise the driving models for their specific vehicles. The system runs entirely onboard the vehicle compute and doesn't rely on high-definition maps or location specific engineering, the company elaborated. Over the past year, Wayve became the first and only AV creator to pilot its technology in more than 500 cities across Europe, North America and Japan without city-specific tuning before deployment. "With $1.5bn secured, we are building for a total addressable market that spans every vehicle that moves," said Alex Kendall, the company's co-founder and CEO. "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. This investment accelerates our path to widespread commercial deployment and positions us to build the autonomy layer that will power any vehicle everywhere." In a comment to the Financial Times, Kendall said that Wayve is moving from R&D to commercialisation. Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber's CEO added: "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 and geographies, which we'll share more about soon." Wayve's Alphabet-founded rival Waymo recently picked up $16bn in funding as it plans to expand its AV services to 20 additional cities including London and Tokyo. The UK start-up raised more than $1bn in a Series C round in 2024 backed by Nvidia and Microsoft. Former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak called it the biggest investment ever made in a UK-based AI company. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

AI self-driving startup Wayve worth $8.6 billion after fresh funding

Wayve, a British startup specialised in artificial intelligence for self-driving vehicles, revealed Wednesday a valuation of $8.6 billion thanks to new investment from big companies including Uber, Microsoft and Nvidia. Wayve secured an additional $1.5 billion following investment from also Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Jeep-maker Stellantis among other firms. Wayve, a British startup specialised in artificial intelligence for self-driving vehicles, revealed Wednesday a valuation of $8.6 billion thanks to new investment from big companies including Uber, Microsoft and Nvidia. Wayve secured an additional $1.5 billion following investment from also Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Jeep-maker Stellantis among other firms. Uber and Wayve plan this year to launch commercial trials of robotaxis in London. "This investment accelerates our path to widespread commercial deployment and positions us to build the autonomy layer that will power any vehicle everywhere," Wayve co-founder and chief executive Alex Kendall said in a statement. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella added that its investment in Wayve is "helping accelerate the path from breakthrough research to scaled commercial deployment with automakers worldwide". Founded in 2017, Wayve is a pioneer in the development of AI embedded in vehicles, which learns from the environment by processing data from sensors instead of relying on pre-mapped routes. Chinese Internet giant Baidu, in partnership with ride-sharing app Lyft, also plan to launch a driverless taxi service in the British capital. So, too, does Waymo, the world leader in driverless vehicles owned by Alphabet, Google's parent company. Self-driving taxis are already in operation in the United States and especially in China, but a commercial deployment in London would be a first in Europe. Their authorisation depends on implementation of a law on automated vehicles that entered force in 2024. Wayve intends to deploy its autonomous driving software in consumer vehicles by 2027.

Microsoft, Nvidia-Backed Wayve Gets $1.5 Billion Funding Boost For Robotaxi Tech Rollout - Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG)

British robotaxi startup Wayve announced on Wednesday it had raised $1.5 billion in fresh funding to bolster its global operations, pushing the Microsoft and Nvidia-backed company's valuation to $8.6 billion. The funding round was led by Eclipse, Balderton, and SoftBank's (OTC:SFTBY) Vision Fund 2, with fresh participation from Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Baillie Gifford, British Business Bank, Icehouse Ventures, Schroders Capital, and several other global institutional investors. Founded in 2017, Wayve last closed a $1.05 billion funding round in May 2024, backed by Microsoft and Nvidia alongside lead investor SoftBank. In September, Nvidia signed a letter of intent for a proposed additional $500 million investment in Wayve's next funding round. Wayve's Asset-Light Approach The company plans to license its technology to automakers as an advanced driver-assistance system, similar to Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) platform. It has already signed an agreement with Nissan to integrate Wayve's AI into the automaker's ProPilot driver-assistance system beginning in 2027. Alex Kendall, CEO of Wayve, told Business Insider on Tuesday that owning a fleet is costly and said Tesla's vertically integrated model limits it to a single vehicle platform. He added that while demand for autonomy is broad, "but not everyone wants to buy a Tesla." Tesla's Robotaxi Woes Tesla's robotaxi technology, meanwhile, has been under scrutiny recently. However, Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities forecasted that Tesla would own 80% of the Robotaxi market, calling 2026 the "most important year" for the company. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors Image via Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.