Berlin-based MOTOR Ai has closed a $20 million seed funding round to bring its certified, neuroscience-driven technology into full deployment, starting with German public roads.
MOTOR Ai has built Level 4 autonomous driving intelligence that reasons through data instead of merely reacting. Its core system is based on a cognitive architecture rooted in active inference, a neuroscience-inspired model enabling structured and transparent decision-making. This approach ensures that MOTOR Ai's autonomous technology is both transparent and aligned with human and regulatory expectations.
Roy Uhlmann, CEO and co-founder of MOTOR Ai, explained:
This type of AI enables the highest safety standard in autonomous driving, as is already legally standardised in Europe.
As other providers pursue autonomy through brute-force data collection, end-to-end solutions, and black-box prediction models, MOTOR Ai has taken a different approach: one that is deeply explainable and certifiable on the world's highest safety levels.
Its full-stack system already meets the most stringent European and international safety and compliance requirements.
From lab to street: A regulatory-first design in action
This year, vehicles using MOTOR Ai’s Level 4 autonomous driving system will begin operating in multiple districts across Germany. Initially supervised by onboard safety drivers, set to be phased out by 2026, these deployments feature both the complete autonomy stack and the legally required technical oversight. This gives local transit authorities a ready-to-use, safe path to autonomous transport without sacrificing control.
For the MOTOR Ai team, these milestones reflect years of intensive technical development and regulatory collaboration. Since 2017, the company has built its entire autonomy stack in-house, working closely with certification bodies from its base in Berlin.
Uhlmann added:
Our solution meets key requirements for transparency and traceability of autonomous driving decisions, as required by authorities. That clearly distinguishes us from US providers and at the same time optimally complies with European regulatory requirements.
That trust is becoming increasingly important. As autonomous systems move closer to everyday use, European governments and the public are asking tougher questions: How are these systems making decisions? Can those decisions be explained, or are they pure black box systems?
MOTOR Ai’s architecture is designed to answer those questions clearly, legally, and reliably.
The seed round was led by Segenia Capital and eCAPITAL, with participation from mobility-focused angels, reflecting the national significance of the technology.
Lucas Merle, Principal at eCAPITAL, commented:
This ‘Made in Germany’ in-house development reduces inter-dependencies while strengthening Europe’s ability to operate in critical innovative technology.
The company's early traction is a signal of what may come next. With road testing already in place, MOTOR Ai is well-positioned to define the next chapter of autonomy, based on intelligence for scaling in real-world conditions.
Michael Janßen, General Partner, Segenia Capital, said:
In a regulated environment like Europe, trust and compliance are non-negotiable. 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.
Looking ahead, MOTOR Ai plans to grow its engineering, safety, and type approval teams, expand deployment partnerships with municipalities, and begin cross-border regulatory expansion into other European markets.
We don’t think the future of autonomy in Europe should be a mystery,
added Uhlmann, explaining the fundamentally different approach Germany and the EU take in comparison to other markets
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.
The new capital will support hiring, commercial rollouts, and company expansion.
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