Wayve has secured $1.2 billion in Series D funding to accelerate its self-driving software development, with Nvidia, Microsoft, and SoftBank leading the investment round. The London-based autonomous vehicle startup, founded in 2017, has rapidly expanded commercial operations and signed deals with Japanese automakers while planning German market entry.

The funding round, which values Wayve at $8.6 billion, was led by Eclipse and Balderton with participation from Vision Fund 2, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Uber. Uber contributed an additional $300 million to support Wayve's global robotaxi rollout. The investment comes as Wayve prepares for commercial trials launching this year, with Uber customers set to ride in Wayve-powered vehicles worldwide.

This massive capital injection positions Wayve to compete with rivals like Google's Waymo and Pony AI in the intensifying autonomous vehicle race. The company's embodied AI approach, once considered contrarian, has gained traction as investors bet on its potential to become the autonomy layer powering vehicles globally. With this funding, Wayve aims to scale its technology deployment and strengthen partnerships with automakers across multiple markets.