UAE mobility firm Moove has been valued at $2.1 billion after a $250 million funding round led by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company, boosting its expansion plans amid the growth of autonomous services in the Emirates.The series C round was co-led by Woven Capital, the growth fund of Japan's Toyota, and Ion Pacific, Mubadala and Moove said in a joint statement on Wednesday.Other investors include BlueCrest Capital Management and Sona Capital, joining BlackRock, MUFG, Franklin Templeton, Uber Technologies, Left Lane, Square Associates, The Latest Ventures, and the Ontario Power Generation Pension Plan.Moove has now raised about $694 million across 17 funding rounds, according to data from industry tracker Crunchbase.The investment is meant to support new market launches, growing its workforce more than threefold, and expanding Moove’s autonomous vehicle unit, which includes fleet ownership and a robotics-first depot infrastructure called Nests, where vehicles are charged, serviced and maintained.“As autonomy scales, infrastructure ownership and operations will define the category leaders,” said Ladi Delano, co-founder and co-chief executive of Moove.“From our anchor in the UAE, and backed by long-term strategic capital, Moove now has the platform to help take autonomy from breakthrough technology to every day transportation.”Play01:17We take a ride in a driverless Robotaxi in Abu DhabiMoove was originally formed in Nigeria in 2019 and teamed up with Uber Technologies to provide potential and existing Uber drivers in sub-Saharan Africa with long-term access to vehicles the following year. It entered Europe in 2022 when it started its 100 per cent EV rent-to-buy model in London.The company said it is Uber’s biggest global fleet partner and one of its top third-party operators of autonomous vehicle fleets through its partnership with Waymo. Moove has also made key acquisitions, including Kovi in Brazil and Japan's Tokyo Taxi.The move is also expected to contribute to the growth of the UAE's autonomous mobility industry, which authorities have consistently developed and expanded.“As autonomous mobility moves from innovation to scaled deployment, the infrastructure supporting it becomes increasingly important,” said Ali Al Mehairi, executive director of diversified assets at Mubadala.“Moove is building an integrated operating platform that combines fleet ownership, operational capability, and technology to support the next phase of growth in autonomous mobility.”The UAE has made advanced mobility part of its plans for the society of the future. Both Abu Dhabi and Dubai already have fleets of self-driving vehicles on their roads.