Back

Thomas
von der Ohe

Co-Founder, CEO

WHAT DRIVES ME

You come across an opportunity to positively impact societies around the globe maybe once in your lifetime. An opportunity to truly make a difference. Our unique approach to autonomous driving gives us this chance: redefining how people move in a better way. Building and shipping a product with this great team is what drives me day and night.

BACKGROUND

Launched Zoox’ first self-driving vehicle on public streets as leading Technical Program Manager in Silicon Valley, launched Amazon’s first Echo as leading Technical Program Manager on Device Software, Founded two (funded) mobility companies. M. Sc. Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University.

Fabrizio
Scelsi

Co-Founder, CTO

WHAT DRIVES ME

Building products together with an amazing team based on cutting-edge technology to serve a greater purpose and solve problems – for the people, for our planet.

BACKGROUND

Manager of an engineering team in Silicon Valley to build autonomous shuttles, built teams and various mobility products: electric race cars, e-motorcycles, light electric vehicles, electric passenger vehicles, including one of the most successful electric delivery vehicles in Germany. RWTH Aachen, Imperial College London.

Bogdan
Djukic

Co-founder, VP Engineering & Teledrive Experience

WHAT DRIVES ME

Vay is aiming to launch the first vehicle without a safety driver on public roads in Europe. This involves exciting engineering challenges, many of which have never been worked on before, ranging from autonomous vehicle technology, cybersecurity, backend, machine learning and safety-critical SW. Coming up with engineering solutions to these topics is something that I’m super excited to work on at Vay.

BACKGROUND

Team Lead at Microsoft, Senior Software Engineer at Skype. M. Sc. in Computer Science from Belgrade University.

Mariona
Bosch

VP Programs and Engineering Operations

WHAT DRIVES ME

Working closely with people from different cultures and professional backgrounds (hardware, software, operations, etc.) gives me the chance to learn new ways of approaching projects, structuring teams, and setting up processes every day. The results of this incredible teamwork are hugely rewarding, and visible in each step of our product.

BACKGROUND

Part of the management circle at AUDI AG, responsible for the implementation of prototypes at early development stages of new products (innovation vehicles, concept and pre-series vehicles, show cars, design models, testing single parts, PoCs, 3D-printing)

Justin
Spratt

CBO - Business & Corporate Development

WHAT DRIVES ME

What drives me is to work on goals that have a big impact on society. Additionally, I wanted to work with the smartest and most innovative people in the tech world. That’s better at Vay than any other company I’ve spoken to recently.

BACKGROUND

Responsible for global strategic partnerships at Uber, where he focused on deals with automotive OEMs, vehicle fleet operators, vehicle battery technology companies and electrification infrastructure providers. Was CEO and chief growth officer at Quirk. Began his professional life at Morgan Stanley as a fixed income trader after studying economics and finance. Built the first startup incubator in Africa in 2002 and has been mentoring founders of technology startups for over ten years. He is an angel investor in software technology and holds board positions in some of these companies.

Irene
Molins

Director of People

WHAT DRIVES ME

Driven by a passion for fostering vibrant organizational cultures, I am a seasoned leader specializing in People and Culture. Throughout my career journey, I’ve championed initiatives to empower teams, from crafting recruitment strategies aligned with core values to implementing data-driven processes for optimal People Operations.

BACKGROUND

My background spans roles where I’ve spearheaded the establishment of People departments from scratch and led teams through significant growth. I thrive on continuous learning, embracing remote/hybrid cultures and cutting-edge HR technologies. I leadled innovative solutions to optimise processes and initiatives that rewarded InfoJobs a “Best Place to Work”.
Outside of work, my passions for mountains and my dog, reflect my eagerness to explore the wild and love for 4-legs companions.

David
Gossow

Senior Principal Software Engineer

WHAT DRIVES ME

After having worked in autonomous robotics research for a long time in the Silicon Valley, I am thrilled to be working at a company that is finally bringing this technology into people’s everyday lives.

BACKGROUND

Tech Lead at Google Tango in Mountain View, Research Engineer at Willow Garage, yoga instructor since 2018.

Johanna
Loomis

Lead Industrial Designer

WHAT DRIVES ME

What drives me at Vay is the enthusiasm and passion for a vision that is embedded in the company culture, and at the same time the strict discipline in its implementation.

BACKGROUND

Industrial Product Design Lead at TEAMS DESIGN GmbH for over six years, started as a Trainee in Shanghai City. Worked as Industrial and Product Designer at LOTHAR BOHM ASSOCIATES LIMITED, Lutz Herrmann Design, Indeed Innovation and Werksdesign.

Vladimir
Bilonenko

Director of Software Engineering

WHAT DRIVES ME

Helping engineers to do their best and most important work. Elegance in software. Bringing ideas from books to real life and from one domain to another. Going from A to B fast.

BACKGROUND

Software Generalist. Maps and Mobility Geek (Lon, Lat not Lat, Lon). High Load at Yandex, Geo Analytics and Last Mile at HERE Maps, Mobility Platform at Daimler. Conway’s Law Enthusiast.

ALINA
PRESTI

Teledriver

WHAT DRIVES ME

A car enthusiast, driven by cars, driving and technology.

BACKGROUND

Nursery school teacher. Driver at Skoda’s start-up Caredriver.

Claire
Eagan

Director of Legal

WHAT DRIVES ME

I’m passionate about leveraging technology to democratize transportation and revolutionize the mobility landscape.

BACKGROUND

Senior Counsel Product & Strategy at Uber handling catastrophic loss claims and litigation, 13 years of experience in product & safety advising and risk mitigation, J.D. University of Illinois at Chicago.

A new approach to driverless mobility

Now live in Las Vegas

Get the app

We are live in Las Vegas

Get the app in the US app store


Download on the App Store button
Using Android? Join the waiting list

How it works

1. Get a car delivered by one of our teledrivers within minutes.

2. Drive it anywhere yourself. You can also park the car, for example to buy groceries, during this time by locking and unlocking the car via your phone.

3. End your rental anywhere in Las Vegas. Park yourself or hand the car to one of our teledrivers, who will park it for you.


Half the price of Uber—guaranteed

Great for the environment—100% electric

Find out more

Teledrivers remotely drive vehicles

Vay’s teledriving technology enables a remote driver (“the teledriver”) to drive a vehicle from afar (“teledriving”). Professionally trained teledrivers sit at a teledrive station with a steering wheel, pedals, and other vehicle controls developed to meet automotive industry standards.

Redundancies in the system

Vay’s use of multiple cellular networks combined with proprietary hardware on both telestation and the vehicle side ensures the safety of our system.

Safety features plus human capabilities

The driver’s visual perception is reproduced via camera sensors and transmitted to the screens of the teledrive station. Road traffic sounds, such as emergency vehicles and other warning signals, are transmitted via microphones to the teledriver’s headphones.
In the event of an emergency, the vehicle automatically puts itself into a safe state within milliseconds by coming to a safe stop in the same lane.

Would you like to
partner with Vay?

Tailor-made teledriving solutions for your industry


Vay is building an extensive network of automotive OEMs and commercial partners worldwide to bring the benefits of teledriving to personally owned cars, logistics, car share and rental, and public transport.

Find out more

Vay’s background and achievements

Vay launched a commercial service in Las Vegas on public streets without safety driver.
Read more

Vay is the first and still only company to drive without safety driver on European public streets.
Read more

Vay raised a $95m Series B round.
Read more

Vay’s team of 150+ people combines the best of two worlds—software & product experience from Silicon Valley and automotive hardware & safety engineering from Europe.

Safety first.

At Vay, we strive for high safety in everything we do. The first company rule is “safety first”, and the second is “safety first.”

Vay’s Teledrive Academy is a rigorous program that prepares our drivers for public streets. Extensive training and advanced technology empower the teledrivers to drive confidently, always following a safe and defensive driving style.

To develop automotive grade technology for remote driving, Vay implements safety and security by design. Vay follows key safety standards, including those for vehicle safety, functional safety (ISO 26262), and cybersecurity (ISO 21434).

To confirm Vay’s high safety standards, TÜV Süd, an independent third party for testing, certification, auditing, and advisory services, has tested and positively endorsed Vay’s technology by these high safety standards.

Teledriving as a new path to an autonomous future.

A human-machine collaboration.

We believe that we will enter a decade of human-machine collaboration where certain tasks will be done by a human and others by the machine.

Starting with the simplest autonomous driving functions, e.g. on highways or at low speeds, Vay intends to gradually incorporate autonomous functions into the system as soon as they are safe and legally permissible.

Human
Machine

IT’S SAFE

Our teledrive system is being designed to be as safe as having someone in the driver’s seat.

CLEANER AIR

Teledriving technology allows Vay's electric fleet to be highly-utilized. This can help to reduce the overall amount of cars in cities, CO2 emissions, and air and noise pollution.

MOBILITY FOR EVERYONE

Our mission is to develop automotive-grade technology for remote driving ("teledriving") to bring sustainable, driverless mobility services to your city.

OUR VALUES

What we believe in

We pioneer
change

At Vay, we’re doing work that has never been done before. This comes with challenges, frustrations and failures along the way. We embrace these challenges through perseverance and innovation, delivering creative solutions to overcome them.

We fuel
collaboration

At Vay, we work as a team and strive for a common goal. We celebrate diversity and encourage different opinions. Our teams and partners communicate and collaborate openly. Together we build, improve, and grow.

We drive
action

At Vay, everyone takes pride and commitment in their role for every task and every challenge. We are biased towards action and get behind the steering wheel, even when there is none. We are empowered to take initiative and drive it to completion.

We build
trust

At Vay, we consistently do the right thing, and follow through on our commitments to stakeholders, users and society. We understand their expectations and always respond in a way that feels human and respectful. We always put safety first and safety second.

We create
magic

At Vay, we don’t just make things that work, we build products people love. We create unexpected and delightful moments for our riders. We design end-to-end experiences that leave a lasting expression.

Learn more about Vay

Meet the team

Employee Spotlight

Thomas
von der Ohe

Co-Founder, CEO

Fabrizio
Scelsi

Co-Founder, CTO

Bogdan
Djukic

Co-founder, VP Engineering & Teledrive Experience

Mariona
Bosch

VP Programs and Engineering Operations

Justin
Spratt

CBO - Business & Corporate Development

Irene
Molins

Director of People

David
Gossow

Senior Principal Software Engineer

Johanna
Loomis

Lead Industrial Designer

Vladimir
Bilonenko

Director of Software Engineering

ALINA
PRESTI

Teledriver

Claire
Eagan

Director of Legal

Job Board

We would love to get
you on board

News

Find out what we have been up to lately!

Jan 17, 2024

CNBC: This startup has a different take on driverless cars. Now it’s launching in the U.S.

German startup Vay on Wednesday launched its so-called “teledriving” solution in the U.S. for the first time, putting the company into direct competition with more richly funded and valuable American firms in the mobility technology space.

Read article

Jan 17, 2024

Reuters: Germany’s Vay launches remote-driven car service in Las Vegas

Jan 17 (Reuters) - German remote-driving startup Vay said on Wednesday it had launched its first commercial service in Las Vegas where a "teledriver", or remote driver, delivers electric short-term rental cars to customers then collects them after the rental.

Read article

Jan 17, 2024

Bloomberg: Remotely Driven Car Startup Launches Service in Las Vegas

German startup Vay has launched a remotely driven car service in Las Vegas after years of developing and testing the technology as an intermediate step toward full autonomy.

Read article

Dec 10, 2023

Podcast: All about Autonomy

Each episode Zeke talks with LiDAR industry leaders who are developing autonomous technology guaranteed to change the world. This week Zeke is joined by founder of Berlin-based deep technology company Vay, Fabrizio Scelsi.

Listen to Podcast

Oct 10, 2023

Wired: Remote Driving Is a Sneaky Shortcut to the Robotaxi

German startup Vay is pushing teledriving—in which cars are remotely operated by humans—as easier to achieve than fully autonomous driving.

Read article

Sep 25, 2023

Electrek: Vay hires its first teledriver to remotely operate its vehicles in the US

Four months after announcing plans to bring its rental EV delivery service over from Europe to the US, Vay has hired its first teledriver – the first of many who will soon be remotely operating EVs throughout the country without a human physically present.

Read article

Sep 10, 2023

Podcast: The Rideshare Guy

In this episode Harry speaks with Justin Spratt. Justin is Vice President of Business & Corporate Development at Vay, the leading remote driving (teledriving) company.

Listen to Podcast

Jun 15, 2023

Podcast: Road to Autonomy

Thomas von der Ohe, Co-Founder & CEO, joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss why Vay is taking a tele-driving first approach to autonomy.

Listen to Podcast
See more

Supporters

Look who already
joined the journey!

Coatue

Gustav Söderström

CPO/CTO (Chief RnD Officer) at Spotify

Kinnevik

Niall Wass

CEO, SVP, COO, CCO at various tech enabled consumer start-ups. Former SVP International, Uber across 50 countries. Investor at Atomico & currently on 5 boards including Vay.

Atomico

Patrick Pichette

Partner at Inovia Capital, former chairman of the board at Twitter, and former global CFO at Google.

Nico Rosberg

F1 World Champion and Greentech Investor / Entrepreneur.

Cristina Stenbeck

Investor and Advisor.

Creandum

Niklas Zennstroem

Founder of Skype, Kazaa and Atomico.

La Famiglia

Jeannette zu Fürstenberg

Founding Partner at La Famiglia, Member of the Digital Supervisory Board of Lufthansa, Investor into Lilium, the leading EVOTL company, Kodiak Robotics, the market leader for autonomous simulation software.

Signals

Qasar Younis

Co-founder and CEO of Applied Intuition, former COO and Partner of Y Combinator.

Eurazeo

Founders of FlixMobility

Mobility/Tech Investors and Entrepreneurs. 

Visionaries Club

Robert Lacher

Founding Partner of Visionaries Club & La Famiglia. 

System One

Project A

Invested

Want to try Vay?


    Your email


    Your postcode


    How often do you use car sharing?

    We love hearing from you


      Your name


      Your email


      I am


      Your message

      0 / 255

      Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey
      Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey
      Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey
      Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey
      Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey
      Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey Join the journey