Scania Invest makes investment in autonomous transport

Scania Invest, the newly established investment arm of Scania’s Ventures and New Business department, announced its minority investment in Waabi, a Canadian company that it described as pioneering generative artificial intelligence (AI) for the physical world.    

Scania Invest was established in December 2023 to focus on key technological areas with potential significant impact on the future transport ecosystem, including energy and infrastructure, circularity and materials and autonomous and supply chain. Waabi marks the first major investment since Scania Invest was established.

Waabi was identified as a strategic addition to Scania’s existing investments and partnerships with technology players in the heavy transport sectors. Through its end-to-end AI system as well as its simulation platform, the company has developed an autonomous trucking solution that can be proven to be safe and cost efficient and reduces the need for extensive on-road testing, said Scania Invest. Waabi is already operating commercially in the United States with plans to expand its commercial operations and launch fully driverless autonomous trucks in 2025. 

The investment in Waabi fits in with Scania’s overall strategic ambitions for autonomous transport solutions. “Our investment in the company exemplifies our strategy of pushing boundaries in areas that will have a significant impact in the future transport ecosystem,” said Jessica Persson, head of Venture Capital and Strategic M&A at Scania. ”This is a strategic and significant investment for us, marking the beginning of our newly established investment arm.”

“Waabi and Scania share a common vision of building sustainable transportation systems. This investment in Waabi highlights Scania’s confidence in our technology and our world-class team to realize this future. We appreciate their support as we bring autonomous transport solution to the market,” said Raquel Urtasun, founder and CEO of Waabi.

Scania Invest joins the funding round alongside other industry players including NVIDIA, Uber, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Ingka Investments, as well as financial investors including Khosla Ventures and HarbourVest.