
Aptiv, Audi invest €250 million into TTTech Auto
Technology company TTTech, provider of various safety and middleware solutions for automated driving, has received a total of € 250 million in a financing round from automotive heavyweights such as tier-one supplier Aptiv and vehicle manufacturer Audi.
Aptiv is investing €200 million and Audi is increasing its existing stake in the company by €50 million. With Aptiv, another key technology leader becomes part of the group of blue-chip shareholders in TTTech Auto together with Audi, Samsung, Infineon and the founder-led TTTech Group.
The investment aims to accelerate TTTech Auto’s development in three strategically important areas: Expansion of the product portfolio for automotive manufacturers and their technology partners, international expansion into key regions, and strategic M&A activities and investments in product development.
- – Expanding the product portfolio: The funding will primarily go towards TTTech Auto’s flagship product MotionWise, a safety software platform for highly automated driving. The platform supports car manufacturers in shortening the development cycles of software-based cars while guaranteeing functional safety across all functions. As of today, there are already around two million cars on the road with MotionWise. The safety platform is delivered as an open, modular and standards-based platform. In the future, special tools will enable car manufacturers to significantly accelerate the software development process. This also includes over-the-air updates after vehicle purchase.
- – Growth in key regions: TTTech Auto aims to create hundreds of additional high-tech jobs over the next few years. The focus is on Asia. In China, TTTech Auto is already part of the joint venture company Technomous, which is operated together with SAIC Motor Corporation, the largest Chinese car OEM. TTTech Auto also plans to recruit talent in software and safety engineering, strategic product management and business development in Europe, North America and Asia to support its targeted growth.
- – Strengthening leadership in safety technologies: As automated driving reaches new levels and vehicles become more complex, the safety requirements of car manufacturers are also growing. To meet these growing demands, TTTech Auto will continue its M&A strategy focusing on complementary products, technologies and services.
“The next few years will be critical for the industry due to the transition from automation to semi-autonomous driving and the evolution to the software-defined car,” explains Georg Kopetz, CEO, TTTech Auto “With MotionWise, we support this industry transformation as an independent company with the most advanced safety software platform on the market. This funding will strengthen our position as a leader in automotive safety software and further expand our global footprint.”
Kevin Clark, President and CEO, Aptiv: “Since 2017, Aptiv and TTTech Auto have successfully collaborated in the area of safety software systems for vehicles of various Volkswagen Group brands. TTTech Auto’s expertise in ensuring end-to-end real-time behaviour of safety-critical systems complements our software platform to accelerate development, integration, testing and validation. This investment advances our software strategy and expands Aptiv’s full-stack capabilities, enabling our customers to deliver advanced safety systems to the public faster and at lower cost.”
Markus Duesmann, CEO, AUDI AG: “Audi and TTTech Auto have a long-standing strategic partnership in developing technology for automated driving. We look forward to expanding this successful collaboration as TTTech Auto joins forces with Aptiv, diversifying its portfolio and building additional technology expertise in autonomous driving. With CARIAD, Volkswagen Group’s software company, Audi is moving full speed ahead with the introduction of this technology and TTTech Auto is a key partner along the way.”
Aptiv, Audi and TTTech Auto have already collaborated successfully in the past: The three companies worked together on Audi’s central driver assistance control unit for autonomous driving.
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