Wayve, a UK-based self-driving tech startup, has launched an $85 million employee tender offer. The offer, led by existing and new investors, values the company at $8.5 billion. This is Wayve's second employee liquidity event, following a tender offer alongside its $1.05 billion Series C funding round in May 2024.
The company uses a self-learning approach to autonomous driving, with a software that learns to drive purely from data. Wayve has more than doubled its headcount to 1,200 employees over the past year and is targeting robotaxi pilot launches with Uber later this year.
The tender offer is part of a growing trend among AI startups, which are using such offers as a retention tool to keep employees from leaving for competitors or starting their own companies.
