Manchester鈥檚听Wejo听has partnered with tech giants听Microsoft, Palantir Technologies and Sompo Holdings听ahead of a public listing in the US later this year.听
Wejo, which has already partnered with automotive giant General Motors, is aiming to become听the manufacturer-agnostic industry standard in connected vehicle data.听
It intends to听create听applications across multiple marketplaces, including automotive, smart city, fleet, insurance, mobility听and听payments.听
Microsoft and Sompo have听pledged a听combined investment of听拢18听million as part of听Wejo鈥檚听Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE) financing,听joining听General Motors and Palantir Technologies as strategic investors as听the scaleup听prepares to list publicly through a听merger听with听specially created public company听Virtuoso Acquisition Corp.听听
Wejo听now has a听拢90m fully committed PIPE听and听expects gross proceeds of听more than听拢250m听upon completion of the SPAC merger.听
/is-it-time-for-london-to-finally-welcome-spacs/
鈥淲ejo听is committed to becoming the universal communications and data stack for all connected vehicles,鈥� said Richard Barlow, founder and CEO at听Wejo.听听
鈥淭he new relationships with Microsoft and Sompo, combined with the additional investment they鈥檝e provided, validate our vision and provide us with the critical resources we need to continue to lead the market and unlock additional value streams.鈥�听
Under the new agreement,听Wejo听will build its suite of data and intelligence solutions on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.听The companies鈥� long-term vision for their relationship includes the potential for听Wejo鈥檚听integration into Microsoft鈥檚 data platform, including operational data stores, analytics, AI and machine learning, data sharing, data governance and business intelligence.听
Every day,听Wejo听collects more than 16 billion data points and analyses 48bn journeys in near real-time across a network of 11m live vehicles from a supply base of more than 50m connected vehicles.听
To date,听the company听has听ingested听more than 10 trillion data points from connected vehicles.听听
鈥淐onnected vehicle data creates the potential to drive broad transformation across industries,鈥� said Sanjay Ravi, general manager of automotive, mobility and transportation industries, Microsoft.听听
鈥淲ith听Wejo鈥檚听extensive and growing data assets on Azure, together we have the opportunity to help customers make better business decisions, provide differentiated customer experiences, find new revenue streams and drive future innovation.鈥�听
听Initial applications include traffic and insurance solutions, as well as remote diagnostics, integrated payments, advertising, retail and logistics. In addition, the companies are evaluating the use of听Wejo听for Microsoft mapping solutions.听
The听partnership with global insurance provider Sompo Holdings and Palantir creates an opportunity for connected vehicle data in the Japanese market that will accelerate the development of听Wejo鈥檚听groundbreaking听products and expansion into听the听APAC听region.听听
Sompo will analyse the connected vehicle data from听Wejo听using the Palantir Foundry platform.听
听鈥淲ejo听holds a unique position in the rapidly evolving connected vehicle market, with a visionary leadership team and powerful technology,鈥� says Shyam Sankar, Chief Operating Officer of Palantir Technologies.听听
鈥淔oundry has powered data-driven R&D, customer service, early warning detection, risk management, and other critical workflows in this and other industries. We are excited to partner with听Wejo, and further our partnership with Sompo, to power this critical work.鈥�听
听