Wayve Announces Autonomous Van Trial in Partnership with Asda

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UK-based autonomous mobility start-up Wayve has today announced it will partner with UK ‘big four’ grocer, Asda, to trial autonomous delivery vans as part of the retailer’s last mile operation.

The trial will begin in early 2022 and Asda will be the first to commercially test the solution, using Wayve’s expertise in deep learning to help navigate complex urban delivery routes in London.

The autonomous vans will operate under the supervision of a Wayve Safety Driver throughout the 12-month trial, where Wayve and Asda will use their capabilities to help to integrate autonomy into the online grocery space and learn how the technology can shape the future of last mile delivery.

Alex Kendall, Wayve CEO, said: “Last mile delivery represents an ideal first use case for the Wayve Driver, which can navigate the complexities of urban driving and easily adapt to new routes. We are excited to be working with Asda as our first commercial partner. They have a proven track record of delivering innovations in online grocery shopping that improve customer experiences. This makes them an ideal partner to support the development of autonomous vehicle technology.”

Simon Gregg, Vice President Online Grocery at Asda, commented: “We want to explore how autonomous vehicle technology can enhance our operating model as well as the experience for our colleagues and customers. We are pleased to partner with Wayve on this trial. Over the course of the last year, demand for online groceries has grown significantly, and we continue to push new boundaries in terms of retail innovation and technologies that can help us develop the most sustainable last mile solutions for our business.”

Notes to Editors

About Wayve

Wayve is on a mission to reimagine autonomous mobility through embodied intelligence. We are the first to deploy autonomous vehicles on public roads with end-to-end deep learning. We are pioneering the AI software, lean hardware and fleet learning platform for AV 2.0: a next generation autonomous driving system that can quickly and safely adapt to new driving domains anywhere in the world.

Founded in 2017, Wayve is made up of a global team of experts in machine learning and robotics from top organisations around the world. Wayve has raised over $44M and is backed by Eclipse Ventures, Balderton Capital and prominent technology leaders such as Sir Richard Branson, Rosemary Leith and Yann LeCun. The team is headquartered in London with their fleet of vehicles testing in cities across the UK.

Wayve aims to be the first to deploy autonomy in 100 cities. To learn more, visit www.wayve.ai.

About Asda Stores Ltd.

Founded in the 1960s in Yorkshire, Asda is one of Britain’s leading retailers and helps customers save money and live better in stores, online and through their mobile devices.

Each week more than 18 million customers visit its 645 stores - including 30 Supercentres, 392 Superstores, 155 Supermarkets, 33 Asda Living stores, and 35 standalone petrol stations - and are served by 153,000 colleagues. www.asda.com and www.george.com deliver to 99% of the UK’s homes and to its 538 click and collect sites across the UK.

Its main office is in Leeds, Yorkshire and its George clothing division is in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Asda joined Walmart, the world’s number one retailer, in 1999.