Looking to further fuel its software development for automated driving solutions, Bosch has announced the acquisition of Cambridge-based self-driving software maker Five.
As the trend towards autonomous vehicles grows ever more present, the developers of the systems powering these vehicles are gaining a share of the spotlight as well. In recent months, we’ve seen Sweden’s Annotell raise $24 million, London’s Wayve driving home with a $200 million Series B round, and to an extent, Berlin’s Vay receiving $95 million, all bringing their own solutions to the table.
Now that’s not to say that maker of just about everything electric, Bosch doesn’t have a foot in the game, as the company lays claim to having developed automated valet parking, the first production-ready driving function not to require a driver, and now with the acquisition of Five, the stalwarts from Stuttgart are shifting things into overdrive.
“Automated driving is set to make road traffic safer. We want Five to give an extra boost to our work in software development for safe automated driving, and offer our customers European-made technology,” explained Bosch’s Dr. Markus Heyn.
Established in 2016, Five combines cloud software, safety assurance, robotics, and machine learning to develop AI-based solutions for autonomous driving. In doing so, Five’s offer provides engineers the programmes needed to create automated driving software rapidly, and to test it before and during its deployment in test vehicles.
“Scale matters in building automated driving technology. Bosch is a global leader in driving assistance technologies, with core technologies and vast data lakes that will be essential in bringing safe self-driving systems to market. We’re excited for Five to become part of Europe’s most powerful SAE Level 4 player and to be a part of Bosch’s future success,” commented Five CEO Stan Boland.
The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
In late 2020, Tech.eu spoke with Boland on the status quo and what was in store for Five.
