United Kingdom (UK)-based software company Oxbotica, which develops solutions for autonomous vehicles (AV), has plans to expand its Canadian footprint following its $140 million USD Series C funding round.
After its recent financing, Oxbotica told BetaKit it plans to hire for up to 50 new roles in its existing Toronto office as it sees “considerable market opportunity” in the country.
Oxbotica said it is focused on deploying its universal autonomy operating system in industrial environments such as logistics and supply chain movements.
A spokesperson for Oxbotica told BetaKit that this funding raise is “vital” to Oxbotica’s current and planned hiring activity in Canada as it looks to expand the business across North America.
Investors that participated in the $140 million USD round include new investors, such as Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance and Eneos Innovation Partners. It also includes current Oxbotica shareholders like the venture capital arm of oil and gas company BP, BGF, Halma, Hostplus, Kiko Ventures, Ocado Group, Tencent, Venture Science, and ZF.
Founded in 2014, Oxbotica is developing what it calls “universal autonomy,” which refers to the ability of all vehicles in any environment to operate autonomously, safely, and sustainably.
Oxbotica, which calls itself dual-headquartered between the UK and Canada, opened its Toronto site in 2019 as its North American base. The company currently has 16 employees in Canada. Oxbotica’s spokesperson said that the company’s Toronto team has outgrown its workspace, and the company is seeking new, larger premises in the city as it looks to scale its North American operations to a workforce of 200.
Oxbotica said it chose Toronto as its North American base for several reasons, like “tremendous commercial opportunities” for the company’s universal autonomy operating system, which it believes can have immediate impact in the region, starting with mining. According to Oxbotica’s vice president of commercial, Richard Jinks, Oxbotica is advancing an “open autonomy” mining solution in Canada with Wenco International Mining Systems.
“We’re confident this will anchor further success in other industrial domains including airports, logistics and supply chain movements, goods delivery and ultimately shared passenger transportation where self-driving software can help unlock value in Canada,” Jinks said.
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Oxbotica’s full stack autonomy system, dubbed Oxbotica Driver, is a suite of interoperable on-vehicle software modules that work with any sensor, vehicle, or platform. The technology integrates the full spectrum of AV functionality, including device drivers, mapping obstacle detection, sensor perception, and prediction.
In June 2022, Oxbotica announced it is using artificial intelligence in the metaverse to offer Oxbotica MetaDriver, a suite of tools that can generate a bank of simulated scenarios which are used to test AV operations and behaviours without the need for physically driving the vehicle.
Including the recent $140 million investment round, Oxbotica has raised $225 million USD to date. Oxbotica said it expects to close additional capital as part of its Series C funding round in a “few months.” In past funding, Oxbotica raised a $47 million Series B round in early 2021, followed by a $13.8 million investment from UK online grocer Ocado.
Featured image courtesy Oxbotica.