Nvidia is investing in the British autonomous driving startup Oxa, alongside backing from the UK’s National Wealth Fund, in a boost to the country’s technology sector.
The Oxford-based company, which has developed software for self-driving industrial vehicles, said it had raised $103m (£77m) from investors to focus on commercial solutions for that software, as well as its physical AI and robotics technology, and to push on with its global expansion plans.
The fundraising includes $50m from the National Wealth Fund, owned by the Treasury, and backing from the US tech company Nvidia’s venture capital arm, NVentures.
Founded in 2014, Oxa now focuses on the automation of repetitive industrial driving tasks, such as the towing and carrying of goods in ports, airports and factories.
The latest investor round also includes capital from existing shareholders the London-listed IP Group, which invests in British tech companies, the Australian superannuation (pension) fund Hostplus and BP Ventures, the UK oil company’s arm that backs innovative technologies.
Paul Newman, Oxa’s co-founder and chief technology officer and a robotics professor at the University of Oxford, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that the investment was “great for the UK”.
He said the company had exported passenger-carrying vehicle software to the US, used to transport 20,000 people, but had decided that that market was too complex, given regulatory uncertainty around road autonomy for passenger cars.
“We think the economics of that are very challenging for us,” said Newman, who also leads the Oxford Robotics Institute. “The economics of having a business in autonomy that works off-highway is cracking.”
He added, though, that Oxa’s mantra was “universal autonomy. So our vehicles are generalists and they can drive in all kinds of places.”
The company, formerly known as Oxbotica, has also received grants from the UK government in the past.
The UK minister for industry, Chris McDonald, said: “Oxa is a great example of UK excellence in digital technologies that are transforming the global automotive sector, and this investment will boost productivity and improve freight efficiency at home and abroad.
“With advanced manufacturing and digital technologies being central to our modern industrial strategy, we’re supporting firms like Oxa to strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in connected and automated mobility.”
