Unlocking new opportunities and scaling for Oxa

Collaborating with its Executive Leadership team and founding engineers, Sheelpa unified the company around core marketing and branding principles; clarified its narrative for investors, customers and talent; led a massive rebrand (Oxbotica → Oxa); and spearheaded global marketing communication efforts behind a successful funding round, Oxa’s first commercial product launch in the US, and its next stage of growth.

The Challenge

Oxa, spun out from Oxford University, was eager to accelerate commercialisation of its AI-based autonomous vehicle (AV) software. Facing an imminent Series C funding round and a growing need for agile market, investor, and regulatory communications, the company sought an expert leader who could refine its positioning and help put it on the global map.

Solutions

Expert narrative development & a global rebrand

Recognising that a crisp narrative around the promise of industrial autonomy was vital to attract investor and customer interest, Sheelpa worked closely with the CEO, Founder, and Executive Leadership to craft core messaging and a distinct, compelling story around Oxa’s AV technology.

As the company evolved, Sheelpa spearheaded a comprehensive rebranding, grounded in a strategic market evaluation and brand values she co-developed with executives. Harnessing experts across her network to create a new name, logo, and visual assets, she led brand training sessions that engaged Oxa’s global workforce in unifying behind the new brand.
 

Impact

Oxa achieved several new milestones under Sheelpa's leadership as Chief Marketing Officer, including:

• A successful Series C campaign that secured US$140 million in funding
• The launch of Oxa’s initial commercial product deployments with high-profile customers in the UK and US
• Oxa was the first UK exporter of deployment-ready self-driving vehicle software.
• Oxa was listed in Bloomberg's Top 25 Startups to Watch and Forbes' Top Five AI Companies to Watch
• Strategic collaborations with Google and key industry organisations, which helped consolidate Oxa’s role as a trusted authority in vehicle autonomy, as well as in related public policy, insurance, and regulatory spheres.

Visionary marketing leadership

As Chief Marketing Officer, Sheelpa's executive leadership impact included influencing cross-functional business decisions and fostering collaboration across departments to ensure marketing strategies were aligned to business objectives.

Sheelpa established strategic partnerships with industry stakeholders to drive sector growth and launched joint initiatives with customers to advance shared goals. She guided Oxa in productive collaborations with government and regulators to build understanding of the evolving AV sector, shape public policy, and promote the potential of UK spinout. In parallel, she led her team in crafting targeted thought leadership, podium, and media strategies to elevate the profile of Oxa and key executives and technical experts.

Watch - First zero occupancy self-driving vehicle in Europe, on open road:

Agile strategies to accelerate scaling and category leadership

Built from the ground up, Sheelpa’s strategy equipped Oxa to scale rapidly and advance its market ambitions. 

Sheelpa guided collaborations with Oxa’s product and engineering teams to create customer-focused marketing assets that would drive scalability. Working together under her leadership, Oxa’s Marketing and Commercial teams uncovered vital customer insights and pathways to deliver added value. Sheelpa proved key to fostering a cohesive organisational culture too, working with the CEO to define brand values and leadership principles that would anchor Oxa through rapid expansion, and collaborating with the People team to attract and retain top talent across its offices in Oxford, Toronto and Florida.

From Code To Road - first commercial deployment of Oxa software on US roads: