Intel Corp says it has entered into a near-billion dollar agreement to acquire Moovit, an Israeli startup technology company.
Moovit is a free crowdsourced application that analyses urban traffic patterns and provides transportation guidance with a large focus on public transit.
Although the deal is valued at $900 million, Intel has a previous stake in the company, meaning that the effective price they will be paying in the long term will be $840 million.
Unlike comparable navigation applications, Moovit provides real traffic data to third parties, including Intel itself, Uber and 7,500 transit authorities. The app on its own already has 800 million downloads globally.
Intel plans to combine the technology in Moovit with Mobileye, the Israeli autonomous car company that Intel purchased for $15.3 billion in 2017.
Although so-called “robotaxis” are in their developing phases, Intel believes that these autonomous services alone will form a $160 billion market by 2030.
Bob Swan, Intel CEO said in a statement: “Intel’s purpose is to create world-changing technology that enriches the lives of every person on Earth, and our Mobileye team delivers on that purpose every day”. He added: “Mobileye’s ADAS technology is already improving the safety of millions of cars on the road, and Moovit accelerates their ability to truly revolutionise transportation — reducing congestion and saving lives — as a full-stack mobility provider”.
The timing of this acquisition by Intel is questionable due to it being done at a time when a number of car companies and autonomous plans are being put on hold or cancelled due to the global economic slowdown as a result of Covid-19. For example, Ford has postponed its autonomous vehicle service until 2022.
