Nutonomy, a US-based self-driving technology producer backed by electronics producer Samsung, agreed yesterday agreed to a $450m acquisition by automotive components manufacturer Delphi Automotive.
Delphi will pay $400m upfront, and with earn-outs the purchase price will total approximately $450m. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of 2017.
Founded in 2013, Nutonomy is working on software called NuCore that will facilitate large fleets of autonomous, ride-hailing vehicles by enhancing image perception, mapping and localisation, motion planning and decision making.
NuCore technology is currently being tested in cities such as Boston and Singapore. Delphi hopes the acquisition will help it access additional clients and enter more markets, and it aims to expand its own pilot program to 60 autonomous cars on the road by the end of this year.
Nutonomy will continue to be based in Boston, and plans to hire more than 100 additional people to its team, including 70 engineers and scientists. The team will join forces with Delphi’s own autonomous driving division, which has a headcount of more than 100.
NuCore is based on work by Karl Iagnemma, director of the Robotic Mobility Group and a principal research scientist in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, and Emilio Frazzoli, professor of aeronautics and astronautics with the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, and the Operations Research Center at MIT.
Nutonomy closed a $16m series A round in May 2016 led by venture capital firm Highland Capital Partners that included Samsung’s corporate venturing unit, Samsung Ventures, and EDBI, the investment arm of Singapore government agency Economic Development Board.
VC firms Fontinalis Partners and Signal Ventures also participated in the series A round, having joined Samsung Ventures and angel investor Steven LaValle for Nutonomy’s $3.6m seed round in January 2016.
Karl Iagnemma, also Nutonomy’s co-founder and CEO, said: “Our mission has always been to radically improve the safety, efficiency, and accessibility of transportation worldwide.
“Joining forces with Delphi brings us one step closer to achieving our goal with a market-leading partner whose vision directly aligns with ours. Together we will set the global standard for excellence in autonomous driving technology.”
– The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.