Yahoo Finance Oxbotica to double workforce after raising £14m in first funding round
Self-driving startup Oxbotica has raised £14m in its first funding round, in the latest indication of growing interest in the autonomous vehicle space.
The cash injection came from IP Group, Parkwalk Advisors and AXA XL, and marks the first time Oxbotica has sought investors, having previously been largely self-funded, barring pockets of government backing.
The Oxford-based company said it would use the £14m to double its workforce, rapidly expanding its teams, and may also seek to open offices in Asia or the US.
Chief executive Graeme Smith said the funds were part of its "mission to bring autonomous software to the world’s biggest markets."
"We have already seen extraordinary demand from a range of sectors and markets, with the successful deployment of our technology across a strong customer base over the previous four years."
Founded in 2014, Oxbotica develops the software in autonomous vehicles, allowing those vehicles to sense their surroundings, and its software has already been deployed across projects with Ocado and at Heathrow Airport.
For example, at Heathrow, its technology is being trialed to make cargo handling vehicles autonomous.
The fund-raise comes almost a year after rival UK-based autonomous vehicle company FiveAI raised the same amount, in what was, at the time, the biggest investment in an autonomous car start-up across Europe.
Companies in the US, including Google's Waymo and Uber, have been able to funnel huge amounts of cash into their self-driving efforts and are thought to be leaders in the field, but the UK is well positioned to dominate Europe in terms of its driverless car efforts.
An independent survey released earlier this year ranked the UK as second for innovation in the self-driving sector globally and first for policy, and many in the industry have argued British companies are developing technology better suited to urban environments than that being developed by US giants.
