Self-driving startup Wayve just raised $1 billion from Nvidia, SoftBank, Microsoft and more

British startup Wayve on Tuesday said it had raised $1.05 billion in an investment round led by Japan's SoftBank to accelerate the growth of its self-driving car technology.

The Series C funding round included new investor U.S. chipmaker Nvidia and existing investor, software giant Microsoft, which is a major backer of AI firms.

The financing marks a major vote of confidence for the Cambridge-based firm. It also builds on the heaps of cash currently being deployed in the AI space.

"At Wayve, our vision is to develop autonomous technology that not only becomes a reality in millions of vehicles but also earns people's trust by seamlessly integrating into their everyday lives to unlock extraordinary value," Alex Kendall, co-founder and CEO of Wayve, said in a statement.

"This significant funding milestone highlights our team's unwavering conviction that Embodied AI will address the long-standing challenges the industry has faced in scaling this technology to everyone, everywhere."

Founded in 2017, Wayve is one of a multitude of startups looking to enable autonomous driving — technology that enables cars to effectively drive without humans at the helm.

Unlike Tesla, which manufactures its own cars, Wayve licenses its self-driving technology to other firms, including retailers and automakers.