MOTOR Ai has announced the completion of a USD $20 million seed round to support the advancement and deployment of its Level 4 autonomous driving software for public transport in Europe.
The startup, headquartered in Berlin, has developed autonomous driving technology that it says is structured around explainable artificial intelligence and neuroscience-driven decision-making, distinguishing it from US-based systems that largely rely on black-box methods for building autonomy.
The seed funding was led by Segenia Capital and eCAPITAL, with additional investments from German high-net-worth individuals. According to the company, the new capital will be used to finalise its type approval process for public roads and enable the large-scale introduction of its autonomous vehicles, beginning with deployments in Germany.
Compliance and safety
MOTOR Ai's approach centres on cognitive AI, utilising an active inference model from neuroscience, which the company claims enables vehicles to make structured, transparent decisions based on reasoning rather than reactive measures.
Roy Uhlmann, MOTOR Ai Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, commented on the framework underpinning the company's solution. He said, "Our solution meets key requirements for transparency and traceability of autonomous driving decisions, as required by authorities. That clearly distinguishes us from US providers and at the same time optimally complies with European regulatory requirements."
The company states that its full-stack autonomous driving system has already met a range of safety and compliance standards, including UNECE approval standards, ISO 26262 (ASIL-D), Regulation (EU) 2022/1426, the Autonomous Vehicles Approval and Operation Ordinance (AFGBV), GDPR, the EU AI Act, and forthcoming Cyber Resilience Act provisions.
Deployment roadmap
This year, vehicles fitted with MOTOR Ai's Level 4 autonomous system are due to commence operations in multiple German districts. Initially, a safety driver will supervise operations on board the vehicles, as required by regulatory frameworks, with plans to remove the safety driver in 2026 subject to approval. The company reports that these deployments cover both the onboard autonomy stack and the necessary technical supervision mandated by law.
MOTOR Ai's development has been ongoing since 2017, with its team building the autonomy stack internally and engaging closely with certification bodies and federal authorities throughout the process.
"In a regulated environment like Europe, trust and compliance are non-negotiable," said Michael Janßen, General Partner, Segenia Capital. "MOTOR Ai has built a solution that is not only technologically differentiated but fundamentally aligned with how Europe thinks about infrastructure and public safety. This is how autonomy will scale in future."
Lucas Merle, Principal at eCAPITAL, added, "This 'Made in Germany' in-house development reduces inter-dependencies while strengthening Europe's ability to operate in critical innovative technology."
Type approval and vision
MOTOR Ai plans to obtain type approval for its autonomous system following European and German regulatory procedures in 2026. The company's stated objective is to create a certified, explainable driver system that can underpin safe, transparent autonomy infrastructure for Europe.
Roy Uhlmann outlined the company's position regarding the specific challenges and regulatory requirements of the European market. "We don't think the future of autonomy in Europe should be a mystery," he said. "It should be measurable, inspectable, and designed to earn public trust. That's what we've been building, and now we're ready to scale it."
Since its founding in 2017, MOTOR Ai has pursued an in-house strategy for developing a cognitive, explainable AI system for autonomous driving, with an emphasis on safety and regulatory adherence. Unlike systems based on pre-trained machine learning for particular situations, MOTOR Ai reports that its solution can generalise information and make decisions in complex or edge-case scenarios, with the goal of meeting certification standards for international safety and being applicable for a broad set of circumstances.