Wayve Achieves Historic $1.05 Billion Series C Funding—A Giant Leap for European AI

In an exhilarating development for the UK tech scene and a proud moment for us at firstminute capital, Wayve has just announced a record-breaking $1.05 billion Series C funding round. This marks the largest investment ever in a European AI company. The funding round was expertly led by SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, with key contributions from long-standing partner Microsoft and new supporter NVIDIA.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak captured the significance of this moment perfectly, saying: "I’m incredibly proud that the UK is the home for pioneers like Wayve who are breaking ground as they develop the next generation of AI models for self-driving cars. The fact that a homegrown, British business has secured the biggest investment yet in a UK AI company is a testament to our leadership in this industry.”

Wayve, founded by Alex Kendall and Amar Shah fresh out of their PhDs at Cambridge, has grown under Alex's dynamic leadership from a bright idea into a force of 250 exceptional technologists across Cambridge, London, California, and Israel. Watching Alex develop into a formidable CEO and lead Wayve into the global AI spotlight has been nothing short of spectacular.

This funding round is not just a financial win; it's a validation of our belief in the team's vision from day one. As the only UK-based seed fund investor in Wayve, we've been there since the beginning, cheering on every milestone and watching with pride as Wayve transformed into a leader in autonomous vehicle technology.

In an op-ed for The Times today, our very own Brent Hoberman highlighted how these investments and strategic collaborations, like the early commercial trials and investments spurred by introductions to industry leaders like Ocado Group, have underscored the groundbreaking journey of Wayve.

Investing in the seed stage is a marathon, not a sprint, often better measured in decades than years. For us at firstminute, just seven years into our own story, backing a unicorn like Wayve feels like a crucible moment, a term borrowed from colleagues in venture capital who've weathered many cycles.

With this monumental funding, the future of embodied AI looks brighter than ever. And for us? It’s back to the core of what we do best: building, supporting, and cheerfully hustling to discover and nurture the next generation of tech pioneers.