Self-Driving Tech Startup Oxbotica Raises $47M To Focus On Industrial Application

Oxbotica, a United Kingdom-based developer of autonomous vehicle software, has raised $47 million in a Series B funding round, Reuters reports. The self-driving tech company intends to focus on industrial applications.

What Happened: Oxbotica is an Oxford University spin-out, developing autonomous driving technologies.

The company calls it “universal autonomy — ” a flexible technology that can power the navigation, perception, user interfaces, fleet management, and other features needed to run self-driving vehicles, as per TechCrunch. Oxbotica claims that its self-driving technology can be used irrespective of the vehicle type.

Reuters notes that autonomous technology for freight trucks on highways has garnered investor attention as it is easier and cheaper to roll out than motorway driving.

Why It Matters: Oxbotica CEO Ozgur Tohumcu said in an interview that autonomous technology use is needed most in mines or ports. “We see a huge transformation happening in the industrial domain,” Tohumcu said, as per TechCrunch.

Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Paul Newman said Oxbotica stands out from other software providers because it’s lighter and easier to use.

The funding was led by the venture arm of BP plc BP BP Ventures, Halma plc HLMAF, and Tencent Holdings TCEHY.

A Bloomberg report in May called Alphabet Inc’s GOOG GOOGL autonomous driving unit Waymo “the one to beat.” Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk said last month that its full self-driving (FSD) software is set to become “absurdly good.”

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