Vay raises 84 million euros

Remote-controlled cars on the streets of Hamburg: From 2022, the first commercial fleet of the start-up should start. The Berliners have now received money for this.

Car-sharing users still have to look for a car on their doorstep, but that's about to change with the start-up Vay: Starting in 2022, the Berlin-based company wants to drive rental cars remotely to customers, who will then move them on themselves. For their concept, Vay has now collected 84 million euros, as the Handelsblatt writes. The money comes from the investment companies Kinnevik from Sweden and Coatue from New York. The French investment company Eurazeo is also involved.

"The financing round enables us to further develop the technology," founder Thomas von der Ohe told Handelsblatt. With the money, the team of the Berliners should also triple from 70 employees so far. For the training of the teledrivers, Vay sets two weeks, test drives are to take place in the Hamburg district of Bergedorf. An initial commercial fleet is planned for 2022, which should include a double-digit number of vehicles. In the longer term, further automation functions are also planned.

With a total investment of €128 million, Vay is the best-funded autonomous driving company in the European region, writes Handelsblatt. Founded in 2018 by von der Ohe and Fabrizio Scelsi and Bogdan Djukic, the startup attracted well-known investors early on, such as Jeannette zu Fürstenberg and Robert Lacher of Visionaries Club. The three founders all bring Silicon Valley experience, having worked at Skype, Microsoft, P3 and Zooy.