Intel in Talks to Acquire Israeli Startup Moovit for $1 Billion

Tech giant Intel has a new Israeli acquisition in its sights and is in talks to purchase public transit app developer Moovit App Global Ltd. for $1 billion. Founded in 2012 and based in Ness Ziona, a town in central Israel, Moovit has raised $133 million to date from companies like BRM Capital, Hanaco, BMW i Ventures, Sequoia Capital Israel, and Vintage Investments Capital.

Intel has made some significant acquisition of Israeli companies in the past, most notably Mobileye, which it acquired for $15.3 billion in March 2017. The Acquisition of Mobileye is related to the Moovit deal enabling the formation of a large entity in control of vast amounts of data, capable of managing urban transportation.

People with knowledge of the talks, who spoke to Calcalist on condition of anonymity said the $1 billion deal is very close to being signed. Intel and Moovit declined to comment on the report.

Moovit develops and offers a mobile navigation app providing real-time public transit information in 3,100 cities and 102 countries. Moovit's app has over 775 million users, according to company statements.

Moovit recently shifted from a free to use model to providing municipal authorities with user-gathered data to help improve their city's public transportation system.

As the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak led to a significant global reduction in public transportation services, Moovit adjusted its model to provide a customizable platform to help operators and cities around the world adhere to local regulations and provide on-demand mobility services to vital employees, automatically determining the optimal route based on passengers' needs. Each operator can adjust the service to meet local requirements, for example, the maximum number of passengers in each vehicle.

Intel set to buy Israeli co Moovit for $1b

Intel Capital is one of the shareholders in the company, which has developed a public transport journey planner and mobility app.

Intel Corp. (Nasadq: INTL) is set to acquire Israeli company Moovit for about $1 billion. The company has developed a public transport and mobility journey planner app. Intel Capital, the venture capital investment arm of Intel, is one of the shareholders in Moovit.

Amnon Shashua, the founder and CEO of Mobileye, which was acquired by Intel for $15.3 billion in 2017 (the largest ever acquisition in Israel), sits on the board of directors of Moovit.

The deal has not yet been finalized.

Intel declined to comment on the matter while Moovit has yet to respond to the report.

Moovit was founded in 2011 and has raised $134 million. Shareholders include Gemini, the Barkat brothers BRM, Vintage, Sequoia and Waze founder Uri Levin, who also serves as Moovit's chairman.

In February 2018, after Intel Capital invested in Moovit's $50 million financing round, cofounder and CEO Nir Erez said, "Moovit expects to surpass 1 billion users by 2021 and to expand significantly the number of cities that use Moovit’s data analytics to improve urban mobility. We are especially thrilled about our plans to collaborate with Mobileye. It’s a synergistic relationship at an exciting time to be shaping the future of urban mobility."

Shashua said, "With significant investments in automated driving, mobility management platforms and smart infrastructure, Intel is at the forefront of a fundamental transformation of urban mobility. We’re working with some of the most innovative transit companies, municipalities and transit authorities to build critical foundational technologies for this transformation. Moovit is one of the world’s leaders in public transit data and analytics. The combination of Mobileye’s and Moovit’s technology and data will be instrumental in making cities ready for autonomous vehicles."

This will be the second major acquisition in Israel by Intel in recent months after it purchased chipmaker Habana Labs for $2 billion at the end of 2019.