Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) is investing in Oxa, the latest British autonomous driving startup to receive backing from the world’s most valuable company.
The US chipmaker’s venture capital arm NVentures joined a funding round for Oxa that raised $103 million, the British company said Wednesday. The UK government’s National Wealth Fund committed $50 million, with existing shareholders such as BP Plc’s venture fund also participating.
Oxa declined to comment on its valuation in the round or how much Nvidia invested. Existing backers such as IP Group Plc and Ocado Group Plc have recently written down the value of their investments in the loss-making company, citing funding delays and changes in its commercial outlook.
Nvidia’s investment follows its backing of Wayve, the UK self-driving company that raised $1.5 billion at an $8.6 billion valuation last month. Oxa, formerly known as Oxbotica and spun out of Oxford University, was the first company to trial driverless cars on UK roads. It has since shifted its focus to industrial uses such as in factories, at ports and at mines.
Oxa now retrofits existing vehicles such as tow tractors with autonomy hardware and its software, providing self-driving solutions to companies. It made the change because the market for self-driving passenger cars requires “tens of billions” of dollars in spending, said founder and Chief Technology Officer Paul Newman.
“You’ve got to disrupt supply chains, you’ve got uncertain regulatory affairs and it’s unbelievably expensive to get into,” he said in an interview. “Scaling in that environment is so much harder and the economics are nothing like as attractive as doing it in the industrial domain.”
The funding will help fuel Oxa’s global expansion, with a focus on the UK, Europe and the Middle East, the company said. The total amount raised in the Series D round could rise in the coming months, it added.
