BP Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of oil and gas provider BP, led a $47m series B round today for Oxbotica, a UK-based autonomous vehicle software spinout from University of Oxford.
Internet group Tencent and safety equipment producer Halma also took part in the round, as did commercialisation firm IP Group, which committed $5.5m, investment fund BGF, superannuation fund HostPlus, investment firm Venture Science and funds advised by Doxa Partners.
Founded in 2014, Oxbotica has created hardware-agnostic software to provide autonomous driving functionality, and will use the series B funding to accelerate commercial deployment of its technology across multiple industries and geographies.
Erin Hallock, managing partner of BP Ventures, said: “BP Ventures are delighted to invest in Oxbotica – we believe its software could accelerate the market for autonomous vehicles.
“Helping to accelerate the global revolution in mobility is at the heart of BP’s strategy to become an integrated energy company focused on delivering solutions for customers.“
The company had secured a total of approximately $24m as of September 2019, according to a regulatory filing. It closed an $18.5m series A round in 2018 led by IP Group and backed by insurance firm Axa’s specialty risk division, Axa XL, and Parkwalk Advisors.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.