A taxpayer-backed self-driving car pioneer is scrambling to raise new funds as it faces a cash crunch within months.
Oxa, which is headquartered in Oxford, has warned it needs to raise "significant" new funding by the end of March.
This comes after Oxa's announcement earlier this year that it raised $103m (£77m) from investors, including $50m from the UK's National Wealth Fund (NWF), backed by the Treasury.
The taxpayer fund is one of Oxa's biggest shareholders, with a 22pc stake, alongside companies including Google, Nvidia and China's Tencent.
The Telegraph previously revealed the UK fund's backing for Oxa . Last week, John Healey, the Chancellor, agreed to hand another £15bn to the NWF, which was launched by Rachel Reeves in 2024.
However, the company is now in talks for additional investment.
In its accounts, Oxa said that "further significant fundraising is required" by the end of March to meet its liabilities.
Failure to do so would raise doubts about the company's ability to continue as a going concern.
Oxa, previously known as Oxbotica, was the first company to trial driverless cars on UK roads in 2016 and has raised hundreds of millions of pounds from investors in its pursuit of the technology.
It has since shifted to developing systems that can make any vehicle autonomous, such as mining machinery or shuttle buses.
The company's 2025 accounts showed it continued to burn through tens of millions of pounds. Its losses narrowed to £52.5m for the year, down from £68.8m a year earlier. It had about £52.2m in cash at the year-end.
The NWF's investment in Oxa earlier this year is one of the fund's biggest deals in the AI sector. It made the investment after Peter Kyle, the former business secretary, insisted that Labour was "betting big" and "picking winners" by taking stakes in strategic businesses.
However, some of the NWF's investments have since been written off, including a series of failed bets on broadband companies.
Oxa's hunt for funding comes as the ride-hailing companies begin carrying passengers on Britain's roads in driverless cars, with UK business Wayve offering robotaxis through Uber's app.
The Oxford business, founded by Prof Paul Newman in 2014, previously developed AI-powered commercial vehicles rather than robotaxis.
Last month, the business signed a joint venture deal with the United Arab Emirates' Dubai Future Foundation to bring its autonomous logistics technology to the Gulf city in 2027.
Anthony Jones, Oxa's chief financial officer, said: "Oxa's commercial traction continues to increase, validating the tangible product development progress achieved year on year.
"Our board is confident that we can execute our go-to-market strategy and secure a pathway to profitability in line with our plans and projections."
The NWF declined to comment.
