Ocado Group is investing £10 million in self-driving vehicle business Oxbotica.

The companies will collaborate on hardware and software interfaces for autonomous vehicles and integrate Oxbotica’s autonomy software platform into a number of vehicles.

The partnership will work on different types of vehicles, including ones that operate inside of Ocado’s customer fulfilment centre buildings, last-mile delivery vehicles, and kerb-to-kitchen robots.

The relationship between Ocado and Oxbotica was first established four years ago, when a two-week trial using an early prototype delivery vehicle doing autonomous deliveries took place in Greenwich.

Ocado is to build teams of engineers within its existing advanced tech division to work with Oxbotica.

The initial focus will be on UK operations, but will be extended to international markets where Ocado’s partners operate.

Alongside the partnership, Ocado is seeking further investments as it develops its autonomous vehicle capabilities.

“We are excited about the opportunity to work with Oxbotica to develop a wide range of autonomous solutions that truly have the potential to transform both our and our partners’ CFC and service delivery operations, while also giving all end customers the widest range of options and flexibility,” said Alex Harvey chief of advanced technology at Ocado.

Paul Newman, co-founder and chief tech officer of Oxbotica:“This is an excellent opportunity for Oxbotica and Ocado to strengthen our partnership, sharing our vision for the future of autonomy. By combining both companies’ cutting-edge knowledge and resources, we hope to bring our Universal Autonomy vision to life and continue to solve some of the world’s most complex autonomy challenges.”

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