Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an estimate of the level of private capital the British Business Bank expects to crowd-in from their investment in Wayve.

The British Business Bank has invested £25 million in Wayve as part of a $1.2 billion Series D funding round, at a post-money valuation of $8.6 billion. Additional capital secured in parallel brings the total value of the raise to $1.5 billion.

The Bank has an objective to “support our most promising businesses in the Industrial Strategy priority sectors to scale and stay here.” Crowding-in private capital was not the primary aim of this investment. Neither the Bank nor the Department has sought to assess the influence, if any, of the Bank’s investment in Wayve on the decisions of private co‑investors.