wejo, the pioneer of connected vehicle intelligence, announces today the opening of its new office in the heart of Manchester’s rapidly expanding technology and enterprise zone.
This reflects wejo’s growth and commitment to the Northern Powerhouse region, with up to 100 new jobs to be created over the next 12 months.
The new 10,000 square foot office covering two floors in Manchester’s Enterprise City will accommodate 70 of wejo’s nearly 200 employees globally and cements wejo as a key-player in Manchester’s innovation community. Manchester has become a focal point for European entrepreneurial talent and boasts the largest number of digital experts in the UK outside of London.
Set up in 2014 by local serial entrepreneur Richard Barlow, wejo has since grown rapidly across four offices in the UK and the US. The new state-of-the-art office in Manchester will include a showroom with a unique digital data observatory.
The digital observatory will include a wall-to-wall display showing interactive real-time maps of traffic flows based on samples from over 9 million vehicles across the US. The map will allow visitors to zoom in and highlight specific areas and data points via a control centre, pinpointing city traffic flows, incident hotspots, parking availability and much more. wejo’s new products – Hotspot Intelligence, Live Traffic and Traffic Intelligence – will be utilised to make this one of the most dynamic and interactive traffic intelligence portals available in the UK.
wejo organises historical and real-time vehicle data and, to date, has curated over 140 billion miles of data providing unrivalled insights on traffic and driving trends. wejo is focused on significantly improving the road experience of drivers, owners and riders and expects to have 17 million cars on its platform by the end of the year.
By 2025, 98% of all new vehicles registered on UK roads will be connected; the global connected vehicle market was valued at $63 billion in 2017, and is forecast to increase to $225 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 17.1% from 2018 to 2025.
Richard Barlow, founder and CEO of wejo, said: “This new office is a hugely exciting milestone and it highlights the growth and impact we have created over the last five years. Being my home town, Manchester is particularly dear to me, and I’m especially proud to be part of its growing recognition as a centre of excellence for technology. We are committed to the North West and wejo is making it a global leader in connected vehicle technology.”
wejo was advised by commercial real estate consultancy OBI Property on the acquisition and design of the new office space and it is leasing the space from property developer Allied London.
