Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visited the United Kingdom this week with a pledge to invest £2 billion to supercharge the country’s AI startup ecosystem. The UK-based self-driving tech startup Wayve could be one of the companies to receive funds from this commitment.
Wayve has signed a letter of intent with Nvidia to evaluate a $500 million strategic investment in its next funding round. Nvidia previously participated in Wayve’s $1.05 billion Series C round that closed in May 2024. A Wayve spokesperson confirmed that this tentative commitment is part of Nvidia’s broader AI startup investment pledge.
Nvidia stated that its £2 billion commitment would include funds from venture-capital investors Accel, Air Street Capital, Balderton, Hoxton Ventures, and Phoenix Court. An Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment on the letter of intent announcement.
Wayve co-founder and CEO Alex Kendall did not provide a projected closing date for the Series D round but mentioned the company was working quickly toward it.
Founded in 2017, Wayve has gained significant attention and investment for its automated driving system. Unlike rules-based approaches, Wayve uses a self-learning, end-to-end neural network that does not require high-definition maps and relies solely on data to teach the vehicle how to drive. This data-driven approach supports both assisted driving and fully automated driving systems. The company plans to sell its Embodied AI technology to automakers and other tech companies.
Wayve’s self-learning method is similar to the strategy used by Tesla and is particularly appealing to automakers because it is not reliant on specific sensors or maps. This allows the system to work with existing sensors like cameras and radar. The software captures data from these sensors to directly inform driving decisions.
While Wayve’s software can run on various chips, the startup has maintained a close development relationship with Nvidia since 2018. Its second-generation self-driving platform, integrated into Ford Mach E test vehicles, uses Nvidia GPUs. This week, Wayve unveiled its third-generation platform, which uses the Nvidia Drive AGX Thor in-vehicle compute autonomous vehicle development kit. This new platform will enable eyes-off advanced driving assistance systems and Level 4 driverless features on both city streets and highways.
Nvidia, and particularly CEO Jensen Huang, appears highly interested in Wayve’s future. In a video soon to be released, Huang referred to Wayve as a potential next trillion-dollar company during his first ride in a Wayve-equipped vehicle on public streets in London. The video shows Huang presenting the Thor developer kit to CEO Alex Kendall.
Kendall described the experience of driving Huang through busy Central London streets, including Hyde Park Corner. He expressed appreciation for the opportunity to demonstrate the technology built on Nvidia’s platform over the years.