American automotive giant General Motors (GM) has taken a 35 per cent stake in a Chester technology start-up, valuing the company at $275m (£213m).
Founded by Richard Barlow in 2014, ‘connected car’ start-up wejo provides information to insurers, local authorities and breakdown recovery services by tracking 7 million connected cars.
As first reported by Sky News, the Chester-based company has struck a landmark deal with GM that includes a $25m (£19.4m) cash injection and a long-term data-sharing agreement between the two companies.
“GM has more experience with connectivity than any other automaker and wejo’s data scientists are at the forefront of analysing and understanding the data generated by vehicle sensors,” a wejo spokesperson told Sky News.
“Together, we will create even more value for customers from connectivity.”
Wejo has more than 150 staff in the UK and US and last October expanded by opening a new office in Manchester, the startup’s tech hub and tech centre of excellence.
It also announced its first acquisition in the form of Silicon Valley based car buying website Carjojo.com.