Wayve vs 1X Technologies

By valuation, Wayve is the larger company at $8.6B versus $820M — a 10.5x difference. Size can also be measured by team: Wayve employs 100-500 people while 1X Technologies has 150 employees.

Wayve has raised more in total funding at $2.8B, compared to 1X Technologies's $137M — a gap of $2.7B. Combined, the two companies have completed 6 known funding rounds.

Wayve leads with an Awaira Score of 95/100, while 1X Technologies sits at 82/100. That 13-point gap reflects real differences in funding, scale, and traction — it's not a vanity metric.

Wayve was founded by Amar Shah in 2017. 1X Technologies was founded by Bernt Bornich in 2014. Visit each company's profile on Awaira for a full founder biography.

Wayve: Wayve builds embodied AI systems for autonomous driving, developing a data-driven approach that trains neural networks end-to-end from raw sensor inputs to vehicle controls. Founded in Cambridge and headquartered in London, the company focuses on a generalist AI model that can adapt to new environments without hand-coded rules, distinguishing it from traditional autonomous vehicle stacks.\n\nThe company raised a $1 billion Series C round in 2024 led by SoftBank, with participation from Microsoft and NVIDIA, bringing total funding to approximately $1.3 billion. Wayve has deployed test vehicles across London and conducts large-scale data collection partnerships with commercial fleet operators including Asda and Ocado.\n\nWayve competes in a global autonomous vehicle market projected to exceed $500 billion by 2030, positioning itself against Waymo, Cruise, and Mobileye with a fundamentally different AI-first architecture. The company achieved a valuation of approximately $2.8 billion following its Series C and is considered one of the most significant autonomous vehicle startups outside the United States, with backing from some of the largest technology investors globally. Wayve operates in the AI Robotics sector and is headquartered in United Kingdom. Founded in 2017 by Amar Shah, Wayve has raised $2.8B in total funding, achieving a valuation of $8.6B as of its latest round. The company's funding journey includes a Series A of $20M in 2020, a Series B of $200M in 2022, a Series C of $1.1B in 2024. The most recent round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund. With approximately 100-500 employees, Wayve has established itself as a Series D-stage player in the AI Robotics market. The company holds an Awaira Score of 95/100, reflecting its strong position across valuation, funding trajectory, team scale, and market influence. Wayve competes in a rapidly evolving segment alongside other AI Robotics companies. Based in United Kingdom, Wayve is part of a growing international AI ecosystem attracting talent and investment. The AI Robotics space has attracted significant investment in recent years, with companies racing to capture enterprise and consumer demand for AI-powered solutions. 1X Technologies: 1X Technologies is a Norwegian robotics company founded in 2014 that develops humanoid robots designed for physical automation tasks, backed by investors including the OpenAI Startup Fund and Tiger Global. 1X focuses on creating general-purpose humanoid robots equipped with advanced AI capabilities to perform dangerous, repetitive, or physically demanding work across industrial and service sectors. The company's primary product line centers on bipedal robots with dexterous manipulation capabilities, combining mechanical engineering with machine learning to enable autonomous task execution. The robots are designed to navigate real-world environments and adapt to varied operational scenarios. 1X Technologies positions itself in the emerging humanoid robotics segment alongside competitors like Tesla's Optimus and Boston Dynamics. The company emphasizes practical deployment over theoretical research, targeting near-term commercial applications in logistics, manufacturing, and facility management. Key technical differentiators include proprietary control systems and embodied AI approaches that enable robots to learn from experience. The robotics sector has attracted substantial venture capital investment, reflecting investor confidence in the humanoid robot market potential. The company's growth trajectory reflects increasing market interest in physical automation solutions, though commercial deployment at scale remains in early stages across the industry. 1X Technologies combines humanoid robot hardware with embodied AI to create commercially-focused autonomous workers for industrial applications.

1X Technologies got there first, launching in 2014 — that's 3 years of extra runway. Wayve didn't arrive until 2017. In AI, that kind of head start means more training data, deeper customer relationships, and a bigger talent moat.

Wayve has about 100-500 employees; 1X Technologies has about 150. A bigger team usually means more revenue or heavier VC backing, but in AI, small teams can build at massive scale.

Yes — they're direct rivals. Both Wayve and 1X Technologies compete in AI Robotics, targeting many of the same buyers. If you're evaluating one, you should be looking at the other.