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Wayve Raises $1.5 Billion at $8.6 Billion Valuation to Launch London Robotaxi Trials

The raise signals a pivot to commercialization via Uber trials in London in 2026, with OEM integrations slated for 2027.

Overview

  • The package includes a $1.2 billion Series D led by Eclipse, Balderton and SoftBank, with participation from Microsoft, Nvidia, Uber, Mercedes‑Benz, Nissan, Stellantis and major institutions.
  • Uber committed additional milestone‑based capital, reported up to $300 million, to fund Wayve‑powered fleets across more than 10 markets starting with London in 2026, with Uber managing ownership and operations.
  • Wayve will license a vehicle‑agnostic, end‑to‑end AI Driver that avoids HD maps and is claimed to have run zero‑shot in 500+ cities across Europe, North America and Japan using onboard compute and varied sensor suites.
  • Consumer rollout begins with Nissan from 2027 for supervised autonomy (Level 2+), while Mercedes‑Benz and Stellantis are exploring deployments and partners plan Level 4 capabilities for robotaxis.
  • London is set to be a key proving ground as Waymo prepares a commercial service and Baidu’s Apollo Go plans UK pilots, with UK officials touting the fundraise as a vote of confidence in Britain’s AI sector.