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Europe overtakes Asia for the first time
Europe finally overtakes Asia in deep tech, UK startup raises $1 billion to rival Tesla, and more...
SearchVentures
December 11, 2024
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European deep tech overtakes Asia
After decades of trailing behind, Europe has finally overtaken Asia in deep tech startup funding in 2024.
What's causing the change?
This Week’s Trends
Europe finally overtakes Asia in deep tech
UK startup raises $1 billion to rival Tesla
New €80M deep tech VC fund and more
Read Time 4 minutes
The Startup Trend
Shifting dynamics in deep tech
For the first time ever, European deep tech startups have raised more capital than Asia with $14 billion raised in 2024 compared to $13 billion in Asia.
> This trend mostly attributes to the accelerated growth in artificial intelligence and machine learning over the past couple years.
> The US, on the other hand is currently outpacing Europe and Asia combined by nearly 2x, raising $52 billion in 2024.
💡 Despite the positive trend, there has been a notable shift in confidence in European deep tech due to the regulatory challenges.
“Europe is often leading in regulation, but I do think Europe needs to make sure that European startups aren't put in a disadvantage, because they need to compete on a world stage."
Startup Feature
UK startup raises $1 billion to rival Tesla
Wayve, a London-based autonomous vehicle startup, raised $1.05 billion in Series C funding earlier this year, marking the largest AI funding round in Europe. Founded in 2017 by Alex Kendall and Amar Shah, the startup is creating self-driving cars with AI that teaches vehicles to navigate without relying on pre-mapped routes.
Taking on Tesla with Smarter AI
Wayve is challenging Tesla in the race for autonomous driving dominance by doing things differently. While Tesla relies on hardware-heavy systems and pre-mapped data for its self-driving features, Wayve uses AI-first deep learning to teach vehicles to navigate and adapt in real-time. Their self driving technology can be fitted to current and future cars of major car producers, without dependence on creating a Wayve car.
“Our vision is to solve autonomy with smarter, adaptable AI—not just more hardware.”
Wayve’s AI-first strategy positions the startup as a cost-effective and quickly scalable contender for widespread adoption of self-driving cars in Europe, making it a serious rival to Tesla’s dominance in autonomous driving.
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Big Backers and Uber Partnership
Wayve’s $1.05 billion Series C funding, led by SoftBank Group and supported by Microsoft and NVIDIA, has become the largest funding round for a European startup this year. This funding is fueling its fleet expansion and an expansion into U.S. markets.
“The future of self-driving need to adapt to real-world complexities, not just ideal conditions, and Tesla isn’t there yet”
The startup has partnered with Uber to integrate its technology into Uber's global ride-hailing and delivery network, enabling Wayve-powered self-driving vehicles to operate across multiple markets.
Wayve currently operates a fleet of over 50 autonomous vehicles used for testing across multiple locations in the UK. These cars are equipped with standard sensors and cameras, relying on Wayve’s AI-driven software.
Its AI-first approach to self-driving, adaptable to any car, positions Wayve as a practical partner for major automakers embracing autonomous technology. With the backing of top-tier investors and a path to scale through their partnership with Uber with continued testing in the U.S., Wayve is setting itself apart in the competitive race for self-driving dominance.
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Headline News
This Week In Startups ✍️
Founders
> Lighthouse, a UK based hotel software provider, becomes the latest European unicorn as it raises $370 million for its series C round
> Candela, a Swedish hydrofoil ferry startup, raises $14 million extension as it enters the US market.
> Cradle, a GenAI techbio startup founded by Google alumi, has raised a $73 million Series B.
Investors & VCs
> Fly Ventures has closed its €80 million Fund III to support deep tech founders in Europe.
> Here is Sifted’s list of all the new first-time European VC funds of 2024 as of November 14.
> Startup associations call for the creation of a European Tibi to boost VC investments from pension funds and insurers.
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Cheers,
Odin Lund & Hari Mohandas
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