Wayve raises $1.2bn as self-driving firm gears up for robotaxi launch
British self-driving car company Wayve has raised $1.2bn (£950m), ticking its valuation up to $8.6bn and marking one of the largest capital raises for a UK AI startup.
The funding round was led by Eclipse, Balderton and Softbank Vision Fund 2, with new backing from investors like Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Baillie Gifford, the British Business Bank and Schroders Capital.
Tech giants Microsoft, Nvidia and Uber also participated, alongside carmakers Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Stellantis.
Uber has separately contributed additional milestone-based funding to support years worth of deployments of Wayve-powered robotaxis on its platform, beginning in London next year.
The fundraise comes as the capital prepares to become a litmus test for driverless taxis under the UK government’s new regulatory framework, where Wayve will compete against Alphabet-owned Waymo and Baidu’s Apollo Go in pilot schemes expected this spring.
Preparing for launch
Founded in Cambridge in 2017 by Alex Kendall, Wayve’s self driving tech has been slightly different to some of its rival operators.
Unlike Waymo, whose vehicles rely on high-res maps and rules, the company trains a single AI system on large volumes of driving data.
This allows the cars to adapt road to road, without needing location-specific technology.
In the past year, Wayve claimed it became the first autonomous vehicle developer to operate ‘zero-shot’ in over 500 cities across Europe, North America and Japan, meaning its system drove in those locations without prior city-specific fine-tuning.
Wayve plans to launch robotaxi trials with Uber in London in 2026 using vehicles supplied by various partner automakers, with Uber owning and operating the fleets.
Further afield, a broader rollout to more than 10 global markets is planned.
Wayve expects its software, called ‘AI driver’, to infiltrate the mass market by 2027.
Nissan has already signed a production partnership, with first vehicles expected from fiscal year 2027.
Kendall said the company was building “a trusted platform that automakers and fleets can deploy globally and improve continuously”.
Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said: “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”.
Rivals and rising scrutiny
Wayve’s funding round follows reports earlier this month that the company was in talks to raise more than $1bn at a valuation approaching $9bn. It brings the total raised by the business to $2.8bn.
It comes amid intensifying competition in the autonomous vehicle sector.
Waymo last week raised $16bn to expand its US robotaxi services and is preparing for a London launch later this year.
Elsewhere, Baidu’s Apollo Go is partnering with Uber and Lyft for UK trials, while Tesla continues testing its own self-driving systems on British roads.
London’s congested and irregular street network is widely seen as a demanding proving ground.
Black cab drivers have voiced scepticism about the benefits of robotaxis, arguing that the city’s complexity and heavy pedestrian traffic present unique challenges.
Wayve says its data-driven model is designed to cope with such unpredictability and during recent road tests in north London, its autonomous vehicles have operated with safety drivers in place.
The UK government has positioned autonomous vehicles as a strategic growth area, and tech secretary Liz Kendall has backed the firm.
She 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.”