Canada-based connected car platform Mojio closed a $15m series A round yesterday after raising $7m from e-commerce company Amazon.com’s Alexa Fund.
Telekom Capital, an investment subsidiary of telecommunications firm Deutsche Telekom, led the round’s $8m first tranche in March 2015, investing alongside BDC Capital, Relay Ventures and Steve Case, a co-founder of media company AOL.
Mojio has created a cloud-connected device that is plugged into a car’s existing electronics to deliver real-time information about the vehicle, such as the amount of fuel left in its tank, through a smartphone app.
The funding will support user acquisition and recruitment, with the company currently hiring for engineering positions in Palo Alto, Vancouver and Prague. Mojio had raised $2.3m in seed funding from Relay Ventures, BDC Capital, 500 Startups and unnamed private funds in 2013.
Alexa Fund revealed itself as an investor in Mojio in June 2015 when it was launched by Amazon to invest in companies developing technology compatible with its voice-controlled artificially intelligent assistant Alexa, though details of its investment were not disclosed at the time.
Mojio is collaborating with Amazon to connect Alexa to its platform, making it possible for users to ask Alexa questions about the status of their car in real time.
Steve Rabuchin, vice-president of Amazon Alexa, said: “Alexa now has more than 6,000 skills, and what we hear from customers is that some of the most useful skills are those which connect people to everyday tasks.
“We have been impressed with Mojio’s innovation in the connected car space, and we are excited to help them expand their capabilities and bring new, innovative skills to Alexa.”
– The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global Government Venturing.