Auto Supplier INRIX Agrees to Buy Software Firm OpenCar
March 09 2016 - 6:50AM
Dow Jones News
Auto supplier INRIX Inc. said it has agreed to purchase a small
software developer that could help auto makers lessen reliance on
Apple Inc. or Google parent Alphabet Inc. for connected features in
cars and trucks.
Closely held INRIX, based near Seattle, is snapping up OpenCar
Inc. for an undisclosed price. INRIX executives say they plan on
integrating their company's homegrown traffic data and other
services into OpenCar's programs so that cars can suggest routes
based on driver behavior.
"This will position INRIX head-to-head with Google and Apple,"
INRIX Chief Executive Bryan Mistele said in an interview. "Car
makers don't want to give full control of the dashboard to these
tech giants."
Mr. Mistele said the acquisition could lead to a tripling of
sales because of new opportunities. INRIX became better known in
the auto industry when Fontinalis Partners, a venture-capital firm
co-founded by Ford Motor Co. Chairman Bill Ford, invested in it.
Porsche SE, the holding company that controls Volkswagen AG, and
venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers have also
helped fund INRIX.
As most car companies commit to adding Apple's CarPlay or
Google's Android Auto— in-dash digital systems that mirror the
screen and the key functions of a user's phone—auto executives have
also continued investing in their own systems that connect drivers
to the outside world. By continuing to develop in-house systems,
auto makers can continue to collect data and offer services via
internal software and Internet connection.
Today, applications are used mostly through a driver's phone and
not on the car's computer.
"We're excited to see additional competition in this important
connected car segment," said Marcus Keith, who runs the Audi AG
division that handles in-car connectivity.
OpenCar was founded five years ago and had been funded by Mazda
Motor Corp. before the purchase. INRIX was founded in 2005 by
former Microsoft Corp. executives Mr. Mistele and Craig Chapman.
INRIX has been building a portfolio of capabilities through
acquisitions. in September, the company purchased ParkMe, a Santa
Monica, Calif.-based company that helps consumers find, reserve and
pay for parking world-wide, adding to INRIX's leading global
position in traffic-data services.
INRIX collects data from consumer and commercial vehicles,
mobile phones, municipalities, toll booths, parking structures and
parking meters to give a real-time picture of traffic and parking.
The company is the primary provider of data behind congestion maps
on mobile phones and navigation systems in vehicles and the main
source of traffic data for local and federal governments in 40
countries.
Write to Mike Ramsey at michael.ramsey@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 09, 2016 07:35 ET (12:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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