TomTom has announced that it has acquired Autonomos, a Berlin-based autonomous driving start-up, saying the purchase "strengthens TomTom's position in autonomous driving".
Autonomos has provided Research & Development consultancy services for automated vehicle assistance systems and has built up expertise and technologies in the process, including a full demonstration-level autonomous driving software stack, 3D sensor technology, and digital image processing. The company was established in 2012 after the founders had worked for several years in successful autonomous driving research projects at the Free University of Berlin.
With the acquisition of Autonomos, TomTom is joined by a team that traces its lineage back to the DARPA Grand Challenge competitions. The company says that this team will advance TomTom's map-based products for autonomous driving applications. It believes that having an in-house autonomous driving stack will enable TomTom to better serve customers with its products, including its HD map, RoadDNA localisation technology, as well as its navigation, traffic and other cloud services.
'This is an important development for TomTom as it will help us to continue to strengthen our capabilities for the future of driving and expand our knowledge and expertise,' says Harold Goddijn, CEO and co-founder of TomTom. 'With this deal we are further positioning ourselves as one of the leaders in autonomous driving'.
'We are proud to have been selected by the world leader in map making for bringing autonomous driving together to the next level,' adds Tinosch Ganjineh, CEO and co-founder of Autonomos. 'TomTom's technology combined with our intelligent driving know-how are a perfect match to make the dream of self-driving cars become a reality.'
No further details of the acquisition are being disclosed.
