Driverless car-sharing startup Vay steers toward B2B services

Image Credit: VAY

Driverless car-sharing startup Vay is making a significant shift in its business model, moving towards providing business-to-business (B2B) services. The Berlin-based company, which has already raised approximately $110 million, has been known for its unique teleoperations technology that allows vehicles to be remotely driven by human operators from a centralized location. This technology has enabled Vay to launch services in cities like Las Vegas, where customers can summon a vehicle that arrives at their location piloted by a remote driver, after which they take over and drive themselves.

Now, Vay is leveraging this technology to enter the B2B market, targeting sectors like automakers, car rental companies, and logistics providers. The company is betting that tele-driving technology will become a standard feature in vehicles over the next decade, providing services like remote valet parking and telechauffeuring. Vay's new business development strategy aims to position the company as a leader in this emerging market, with ambitions to be the "AWS of vehicle fleets."

This pivot comes at a challenging time for many autonomous vehicle developers, but Vay's approach of combining human-operated remote driving with eventual autonomous features could give it a competitive edge​