Volvo Group Venture Capital AB, the automaker’s venture capital arm, has joined Waabi as a strategic investor.
The companies aren’t disclosing the capital invested or much other information about the deal, but having Volvo on board will give Waabi access to Volvo’s extensive industry network and help the startup discover opportunities for large-scale commercialization.
We’ve been extremely selective in terms of who we bring on board as an investor, and this is the right time for Waabi to bring on a strategic OEM
Raquel Urtasun, Waabi’s CEO and Founder stated on strategic investor
The Self-driving truck
The collaboration also represents Volvo’s dedication to self-driving trucking. Volvo Group has been researching self-driving vehicles for several years. Volvo developed an autonomous concept truck for hub-to-hub goods transportation as early as 2017 — a model that Waabi is also pursuing.
In 2019, the automaker unveiled Vera, a self-driving, electric “truck” resembling a sports car with a trailer mounted on top. The Vera was last heard of being used in Sweden to transport goods packed in cargo trailers from a distribution center to a port terminal in collaboration with logistics company DFDS. Volvo should have responded more quickly to provide an update.
Recently, Volvo partnered with automated driving technology startup Aurora Innovation to co-develop autonomous semi-trucks for the North American market, incorporating the Aurora Driver technology stack into the trucks.
We represent for Volvo a strengthening commitment to self-driving trucking, as well as their understanding that there is next-generation technology, and they want to be the leader of next-generation technology, They want to be part of that story
Urtasun stated on Waabi’s AI-first and simulation-heavy approach to autonomy
OEM partnership for Waabi
The investment, an extended form of Waabi’s $83.5 million Series A led by Khosla Ventures, arrives just a few months after the startup revealed its first generation of trucks designed for OEM integration.
Rather than adding cameras, lidar, and other sensor systems to an already-built truck, Waabi’s Driver — which includes software, sensors, and compute power — is specifically built into the vehicle from the assembly line. An onlooker will notice a sleeker vehicle exterior — no chunky aftermarket sensor ornamentation — that is easier to maintain and clean.
We build deep partnerships with OEMs because we don’t believe in aftermarket installations,
So for us, OEM partnerships are the most important partnerships
Urtasun stated on OEM partnerships
Urtasun was tight-lipped about whether Volvo will be a future manufacturing collaborator — although we suspect it will be — but she did say to keep a lookout for news in the coming months.
Waabi reported that its simulator has helped the company design its next-generation truck by trying various sensor placements on a digital twin of the vehicle, testing, training, and teaching Waabi’s self-driving software. Waabi prevented potential years of building and testing real-world vehicles by building and testing the truck in simulation, according to Urtasun.
Aside from the ability to accelerate development and production at a relatively low cost, Waabi’s simulator became a selling point for Volvo due to its safety applications, according to Urtasun.
When you say Volvo, what comes to mind for everybody is a symbol of safety, and that’s where we are super aligned in terms of our very differentiated approach to safety that Waabi is providing,
Waabi is simulation-centric, instead of deploying large test fleets, and that’s one of the things that Volvo really highlights in terms of their investment
Urtasun stated on Volvo’s investment
Waabi’s ability to “scale from day one,” according to Urtasun, has also attracted the attention of OEM partners.
This is an important stepping stone on our path,
We are in a very unique position in terms of the competitive landscape because we have a multi-year runway and we have a very lean approach, which means we can go super fast with a fraction of the cost and people
Urtasun stated on Volvo’s investment
Waabi’s most innovative simulator
Waabi started in 2021, and the company already claims to have the most innovative simulator in the industry and a truck that resembles a next-generation truck for most companies in operation today.
What really defines Waabi is that we saw the super capital intensive approach that is very slow, and instead, we said we need to build different technology so we can get there faster and in a much more scalable fashion,
Urtasun stated on Waabi’s market approach
Furthermore, whether Waabi’s quick, inexpensive scaling guarantees will materialize is still being determined. Although the business has test vehicles, it has yet to disclose any commercial pilots with OEM or shipping partners.
