BERLIN, Germany, July 15, 2025 – MOTOR Ai has raised $20 million in seed funding to advance its neuroscience-driven, certified Level 4 autonomous driving technology toward full deployment on German public roads. The funding round was led by Segenia Capital and eCAPITAL, with participation from high-net-worth (HNI) individuals.
According to MOTOR Ai, the investment will support the final steps toward regulatory type approval and the rollout of its autonomous vehicles in Germany. “Our solution meets key requirements for transparency and traceability of autonomous driving decisions, as required by authorities,” said MOTOR Ai CEO and co-founder Roy Uhlmann. “That clearly distinguishes us from US providers and at the same time optimally complies with European regulatory requirements.”
MOTOR Ai’s system uses a cognitive architecture based on active inference, a neuroscience model that lets vehicles make decisions in a transparent way. This approach contrasts with other providers that rely on large data sets and opaque prediction models. The company states that its full-stack approach is certified to UNECE approval, ISO 26262 (ASIL-D), Regulation (EU) 2022/1426, Autonomous Vehicles Approval and Operation Ordinance (AFGBV), GDPR, the EU AI Act, and the upcoming EU Cyber Resilience Act.
“We don’t think the future of autonomy in Europe should be a mystery,” said Uhlmann. “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.”
MOTOR Ai: Autonomy as a Service
This year, vehicles equipped with the MOTOR Ai Level 4 system will commence operating in selected districts in Germany. Initially safety drivers will supervise these vehicles, with plans to remove them by 2026. The deployments will follow legal requirements and use the onboard autonomy system along with the technical oversight.
Founded in Berlin in 2017, MOTOR Ai has built its autonomy stack in-house. The company focuses on meeting regulatory and certification standards, which supports integration with European legal requirements and limits reliance on outside providers.
“In a regulated environment like Europe, trust and compliance are non-negotiable,” said Michael Janßen, general partner at 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.”
MOTOR Ai expects to achieve type approval following European and German regulations in 2026. The company aims to create a certified driver system positioned as foundational infrastructure for safe and transparent mobility in Europe.
Source: MOTOR Ai
About MOTOR Ai
MOTOR Ai, founded in 2017 in Berlin by Roy Uhlmann and Adam Bahlke, develops cognitive AI systems for autonomous driving with an emphasis on explainability, safety, and regulatory compliance. The company’s Level 4 autonomous driving platform is designed to operate in complex traffic scenarios using decision-making models rooted in cognitive intelligence. MOTOR Ai’s approach allows for real-time decisions in edge cases – unpredictable or uncommon traffic situations that pose challenges for autonomous vehicles. This generalization capability supports two key outcomes: the system can be certified under international functional safety standards, and it reduces the need for scenario-based training. MOTOR Ai’s technology stack integrates sensors such as LIDAR, radar, cameras, GPS, and ultrasound, and is structured for use in passenger vehicles, shuttles, and logistics fleets. The company aims to deploy the first certified autonomous vehicle fleet in Europe and has secured funding to advance development.