Israeli-American transit company Via, valuated at well over $2 billion, announced it will acquire Israeli startup Fleetonomy. According to CTECH, which broke the story, the deal is worth tens of millions of dollars in cash and equity.
Smart services for fleets
Fleetonomy developed a smart management platform for fleets of vehicles, alongside the launch of a ride-sharing type service, pay-per-drive vehicles. The system enables users to create fleet deployment simulations and receive real-time insight, with control over urban distribution, fleet size, and even the fleet’s routes. Fleetonomy was founded in 2016 by CTO Lior Gerenstein and CEO Israel Duanis. The company’s product was launched in 2017, and since then has recruited automotive giants such as Jaguar and Audi as customers. According to Pitchbook, Fleetonomy has raised $4.5 million to date.
Via has developed technology that enables passengers to travel in the city with speed and cost-effectiveness in mind. Getting a ride is super easy once you’ve downloaded the app. The automated system coordinates in real-time passengers that are traveling in the same direction and provides them with a ride-sharing service that’s less crowded than the bus and way cheaper than a taxi.
Waiting time usually comes in under 10 minutes, and the rest of the ride is similar to taking a cab. The company developed a unique algorithm that calculates mathematical and operational equations in order to adapt the vehicles’ routes to the paying customer, while also taking traffic into consideration. Fleetonomy is currently operational in more than 70 cities in 20 different countries.
It was just in March, this year, that Via closed a $400 million funding round - with half of it coming from Exor, and based on a $2.25 billion valuation. It seems that Via closed this deal to have a footprint in the logistics and delivery industries, as well as having an in with Fleetonomy’s automotive leading customer list. Via was founded in 2012 by CEO Daniel Ramot and CTO Oren Shoval, and has raised over $700 million to date.