TTTech Auto Becomes USD-Unicorn in Automotive Technology
By raising an additional EUR 250 million from Aptiv and EUR 50 million from Audi in its latest funding round, TTTech Auto will be enabled to expand its product portfolio for automotive manufacturers and technology partners, to expand internationally in key regions and to extend its capabilities through strategic M&A and product investments.
TTTech Auto raised EUR 250 million from Aptiv PLC and EUR 50 million from Audi in its latest funding round. / Picture: © Vindobona.org
Aptiv is investing EUR 200 million, while Audi is increasing its existing stake by EUR 50 million.
With this latest funding round and a valuation of more than USD 1 billion, TTTech Auto, headquartered in Vienna and also present in several locations in Europe, the USA and Asia, confirms its strong position amid a growing number of auto tech unicorns.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close within the next two months.
With Aptiv, another highly successful and important technology leader becomes part of TTTech Auto’s blue chip shareholder base alongside Audi, Samsung Electronics, Infineon Technologies and the founder-led TTTech Group.
This underscores the company’s strong position with its safety software platforms in the emerging software defined mobility space for automotive use and the value it brings to the market.
The investment will enable TTTech Auto to accelerate progress in three strategic areas:
- expanding its product portfolio for automotive manufacturers and its technology partners,
- expanding internationally in key regions, and
- extending its capabilities through strategic M&A and product investments.
“The next few years will be critical for the entire industry in the transition from automation to semi-autonomous driving and the software-defined vehicle.” said About the investment, Georg Kopetz, CEO, TTTech Auto. “With MotionWise, we are supporting 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 significantly increase our global footprint.”
“Since 2017, Aptiv and TTTech Auto together have successfully deployed safety software systems in vehicles across various brands of the Volkswagen group,” said Kevin Clark, President and CEO, Aptiv about the investment. “TTTech Auto’s expertise in providing end-to-end real time behavior for safety critical systems complements our software platform to accelerate development, integration, testing, and validation. This investment further advances our software strategy, and adds to Aptiv’s full-stack capabilities, enabling customers to democratize advanced safety systems faster and at a lower cost.”
Markus Duesmann, CEO, AUDI AG added, “Audi and TTTech Auto have a long-standing strategic partnership in the field of developing automated driving technology. We are now looking forward to expanding this successful cooperation as TTTech Auto joins forces with Aptiv to enhance its capabilities and accelerate its automated driving technology commercialization. With the Volkswagen Group’s software company CARIAD, Audi is driving the introduction of that technology forward at full speed and TTTech Auto is an important partner along this path.”
Aptiv, Audi and TTTech Auto have a shared track record: The three companies worked together on Audi’s central driver assistance controller for automated driving. The fruitful collaboration on this platform was honored with the Automotive News PACE Award in 2019.
About TTTech Auto
TTTech Auto provides solutions for the challenges of future vehicle generations. The company specializes in safe software and hardware platforms for automated driving and beyond, applicable in series production programs. With our leading technology solutions, we ensure safety and electronic robustness for a more automated world.
TTTech Auto operates under the umbrella of the TTTech Group, a technology leader in robust networking and safety controls, with cross-industry experience from more than 20 years of operation. TTTech Auto’s MotionWise is a vital part of the Audi A8 computer architecture, the first series-production car capable of automated driving level 3.