Mercedes and Nissan invest in self-driving cars coming to London’s streets

Matthew Field

Wed, February 25, 2026 at 5:00 PM GMT+9 2 min read

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Wayve uses AI to operate its autonomous vehicles, with its technology currently being tested by Uber - Tim Andrew

A British self-driving car champion has raised $1.2bn (£900m) to accelerate the roll-out of robotaxis in London.

Wayve, a technology business founded in Cambridge in 2017, has secured the new funds from a range of investors including Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and American chip giant Nvidia.

The deal values Wayve at $8.6bn, making it one of Britain’s most valuable technology businesses.

The UK company uses AI to operate its autonomous vehicles, with its technology currently being tested by Uber as it plans a driverless taxi service in the capital.

Trials are expected to start in London later this year under new rules allowing robotaxi pilots on UK roads.

Wayve has predicted that passenger cars equipped with advanced driver assistance technology developed using its AI, including cars that can navigate traffic on their own, would arrive from 2027.

The latest fundraise comes after Wayve previously raised more than $1bn from the likes of Microsoft and SoftBank.

It has used the money to expand its technology globally, conducting trials in San Francisco, Japan and Germany.

Alex Kendall, Wayve’s New Zealand-born chief executive, said Wayve’s technology was not expanding through “city-by-city robotaxi deployments alone” but was being adopted by carmakers and “fleets can deploy globally”.

Wayve said the latest fundraise could ultimately rise to $1.5bn, although the additional investment depends on future milestones from its tie-up with Uber.

The deal comes even as Wayve faces mounting competition from US and Chinese driverless car companies.

Waymo, which is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, also raised $16bn for its own robotaxi service earlier this year.

It is planning to launch its own driverless car service in Britain in late 2026, while Tesla has also been testing its full self-driving technology on the UK’s streets.

Apollo Go, a self-driving technology business controlled by China’s Baidu, has signed deals with Uber and Lyft to bring its autonomous software to their ride-hailing apps.

The taxpayer owns a slice of Wayve through a past investment from the British Business Bank, which also joined the latest funding round.

Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary, said: “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 their cars on the streets around the country and around the world in years to come.”

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