Delphi today announced the purchase of the Nutonomy Automobile Company for $ 450 million. Founded in 2013 by Dr. Karl Iagnemma and Dr. Emilio Frazzoli, Nutonomy is a Boston-based company that develops autonomous vehicle technology. The basic thinking behind this purchase is to accelerate the development of autonomous vehicles with Delphi.
Glen De Vos, Delphi's technical director, pointed out during a conference call that Delphi wanted to be a leader in the field of autonomous vehicles, but that he sees a first opportunity in commercial vehicles . De Vos sees the technology accelerate in the commercial space and then spread in consumer vehicles over time.
By purchasing Nutonomy, De Vos sees Delphi gaining a significant advantage in intellectual property and engineering. "This [purchasing Nutonomy] helps us deliver on a large scale," he said. Nutonomy adds more than 100 employees to Delphi where more than 100 people are already working on autonomous vehicles.
"Our mission has always been to radically improve the safety, efficiency and accessibility of transportation worldwide," said Karl Iagnemma, co-founder and CEO of NuTonomy, in a statement. "Partnering with Delphi brings us closer to achieving our goal with a market-leading partner whose vision aligns directly with ours – together we will set the world standard for Excellence in autonomous driving technology. "
The purchase cost $ 400 million to Delphi and will pay an additional $ 50 million in performance-based payments. Nutonmony raised $ 19.6 million in financing, including from Highland Capital Partners, Samsung Ventures and Frontinalis Partners, Detroit. The two companies started talking a few months ago after Delphi began looking to expand its autonomous vehicle business.
Nutonomy's partnerships with Lyft, PSA Group and others will continue and the company will work in parallel with Delphi from its Boston base.
As a result of this purchase, Delphi will have independent driving activities in Boston, Pittsburgh, Singapore, Santa Monica and Silicon Valley and the company expects to have 60 autonomous cars on the road by the end of the year. of the year.