Intel to acquire Israeli navigation company Moovit for $900 million

Intel has acquired mobility-as-a-service startup Moovit for $900 million. Moovit is an Israeli company that makes a route planner app, among other things. The start-up will become part of Intel’s automotive branch.

Intel has estimated the value of Moovit at $900 million, but the company says it already has a $60 million stake in the company. The chip manufacturer will therefore pay an additional $840 million for the start-up. This weekend, sources reported to TechCrunch that Intel was planning to acquire the start-up. It was estimated at the time that Intel would pay up to $1 billion for the company.

Among other things, Moovit creates a route planner app, which combines traffic information with information from various transportation services, including urban public transit and services such as Uber and Lyft. Moovit uses artificial intelligence and big data to provide route suggestions to users. The app is used by more than 800 million users in 102 different countries, according to the company. The company also provided traffic information to third parties, including Intel.

Intel says it will continue to offer the Moovit app. At the same time, the start-up will become part of Intel’s Israeli automotive arm to complement MobileEye, another mobility company acquired by Intel in 2017. Ultimately, Intel’s automotive industry must become a full mobility provider. In the long term, for example, the company wants to start a robotic taxi service. According to Intel, the acquisition of Moovit will help with that.