A Manchester-headquartered tech firm is aiming to become the global leader in connected car data.
Wejo processes 16 billion data points from 11 million vehicles a day and has a heavy presence in the US.
Earlier this year Wejo announced a high-profile deal with Virtuoso Acquisition Corp to go public through a reverse merger that valued Wejo at $800m, with analysts tipping it to achieve unicorn status in the near future.
CEO Richard Barlow founded the business in 2014, inspired by his passion for motor racing and Formula 1 – where data is routinely collected to improve performance.
He realised if the connected data technology in motor racing could transition into the mainstream automotive sector he would have a business.
鈥淭he majority of new cars sold in the world – and most people don鈥檛 know this – have telemetry in the car,鈥� he explains in an interview with our sister publication .
鈥淵our average car has 200 sensors now. The motor manufacturers don鈥檛 have a platform to send the data to and that鈥檚 where Wejo comes in.
鈥淲e built a platform and now an average of 11m vehicles send us live data every day. We see 7% of all vehicles moving around New York and 20% of all vehicles around Detroit in near real-time.
鈥淪ubject to consent, we know the radio station being listened to. We know the temperature of the engine. We know the suspension data.鈥�
The game-changing moment came in 2018 when General Motors took a 35% stake in Wejo.
鈥淭he General Motors deal was such a key milestone for us,鈥� says Barlow. 鈥淕M invested $25m in but the really important thing is they鈥檙e still the largest provider of cars with connectivity built-in.
“It was a real turning point and now we work with 17 OEMs and tier one brands.”
A few months ago听Wejo announced significant partnerships with Microsoft, Palantir and Sompo Holdings – and Barlow is forecasting 听the company will be profitable by early 2024.
鈥淏y 2030 there will be 600m cars that need connectivity,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur plan is to be the leading global platform that takes all the live data from all vehicles. The opportunities are enormous.鈥�
Read the full story about Barlow’s prodigious communication rota with staff, the importance of heavyweight hires and remaining honest with investors on TechBlast.