Wejo, the UK-based vehicle data platform operator backed by carmaker General Motors (GM), has agreed a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company Virtuoso Acquisition Corp.
The merged company will have an $800m enterprise value and will take Virtuoso’s listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market, obtained through a $207m initial public offering in January this year.
The deal will be boosted by $100m in private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing from strategic investors including GM and data analytics provider Palantir. Unnamed others have expressed their interest in contributing up to $25m for the PIPE.
Founded in 2014, Wejo operates an online exchange platform for data from connected vehicles, including journey data, road traffic patterns and driver activity. The data it aggregates is used by insurance companies, breakdown recovery services and local governments.
The company will use the funding to support strategic objectives such as the launch of new services, expansion into new geographies and markets, and the onboarding of original equipment manufacturers.
Wejo raised $13.1m in an August 2020 funding round led by venture capital firm DIP Capital that included convertible note financing from Future Fund, an initiative by the UK government to support innovative businesses during the covid-19 pandemic.
GM agreed to supply Wejo with $25m in series B funding and $70m worth of data services in a February 2019 transaction that gave it a 35% stake, valuing the company at $275m.
DIP Capital had provided $1.9m for Wejo in November 2018, following the reported close of a $15m series A round in June that year. The company said it had raised approximately $28m from undisclosed investors prior to its series A round.