On 30 May 2023, Wejo announced that it was going into administration, precipitating its delisting from Nasdaq in June and a revised valuation of less than US$10m. Founded in 2013, the start-up presented a new vision for the use of connected vehicle data. Collecting trillions of data points from more than 12 million vehicles in near-real-time, the company stated that it could analyse this information and produce reports on driver behaviour, congestion, weather conditions, and more.
It gained significant momentum in 2019 when General Motors secured a 35% stake. This was soon followed by investments from Microsoft and global insurance firm Sompro, which catapulted the company to unicorn status (value in excess of US$1bn) in 2021, one of only 44 UK tech companies to do so. At that time, Wejo managed vehicle data for 24 automakers, including GM, Ford, Hyundai, and Daimler.
Chief Executive Richard Barlow previously told Automotive World that a shared data network had the capacity to boost fleet efficiency, break down communication barriers in the autonomous vehicle space, and create a more integrated industry. So, what went wrong?
