Wayve’s latest $1.2bn funding round includes investment from major global firms, valuing the London-based start-up at $8.6bn.

The Series D equity round was led by global financial investors, with participation from Microsoft, Nvidia and Uber, alongside investment from global automakers Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Stellantis. 

This funding will allow the start-up to roll out its end-to-end AI platform for self-driving vehicles on a global commercial scale.

Alex Kendall, co-founder and CEO of Wayve, said: “This investment accelerates our path to widespread commercial deployment and positions us to build the autonomy layer that will power any vehicle everywhere.” 

The start-up, which has previously received funding from big-name investors including a $1.05bn funding round in 2024, was founded in 2017 with the aim of reimagining mobility through embodied intelligence.

This embodied AI system, called AV2.0, allows vehicles to learn while driving, grasping its surroundings, anticipating what will happen next and responding immediately to changing conditions, just like a human driver would.

Rather than launching its own fleet of vehicles, Wayve’s approach is to partner with car makers to integrate its system into their vehicles. It licenses its ‘AI Driver’, providing tools to customise driving models for specific vehicles and brands.

For instance, in April 2025, Wayve signed a deal with Nissan that will see its AI Driver integrated into Nissan’s next-generation ProPILOT driver-assistance systems, with the first mass-produced vehicles expected to launch in Japan in 2027. 

This latest funding round also includes additional investment from Uber, extending the partnership formed in 2024 to support multi-year deployments of Wayve-powered robotaxis on the Uber network, with plans to expand to more than 10 markets globally.

The two firms plan to launch public robotaxi trials in London later in 2026, with broader international roll-out to follow. 

Under the partnership, Wayve will deploy its AI Driver in L4-capable vehicles (able to operate fully autonomously in certain environments) from participating car makers, including Mercedes, Nissan and Stellantis, while Uber will own and operate the fleet.

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, said: “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.” 

Peter Kyle, secretary of state for business and trade, said: “The growth of great British AI businesses like Wayve is a big vote of confidence in the UK and in the future of our auto industry that will help to boost jobs and growth across the sector. 

“We’re proud to be backing this investment round, giving Wayve the firepower to scale up and thrive. I can’t wait to see more of its cars on the streets around the country and around the world in years to come.” 

To take a lead on self-driving technology, the government confirmed last year that it would fast-track driverless car pilots and introduce self-driving commercial pilots on England’s roads from spring 2026.

Earlier this year it also announced that it intends to update regulations under the Automated Vehicles Act in the second half of 2026, which will allow driverless services to operate legally on public roads, provided they meet strict safety standards.

Uber is not the only robotaxi firm preparing for launch on London streets later this year. Waymo, the self-driving taxi service owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, aims to operate a driverless robotaxi service in the city by September. Ride-hailing firm Lyft has said it will launch a fleet of Apollo Go vehicles from Beijing-based autonomous vehicle operator Baidu this year too.