Estimotion has developed technology for measuring and forecasting real-time traffic flow from a wireless telephone sample.
British company ITIS Holdings has acquired Israeli start-up Estimotion for $2 million in cash and $3 million in shares. ITIS is in line to win an award next week from the British consulate and the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Labor for being the best foreign investor in Israel.
Founded in 2000, Estimotion has developed technology for measuring and forecasting real-time traffic flow, based on an anonymous sampling of wireless telephones. The main investors in the company are Shlomo Car Rentals and Partner Communications (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR; LSE: PCCD). Estimotion president and CEO Israel Feldman said the company’s technology made it possible to predict future traffic situations, based on information from wireless telephone networks. “The current system, recently installed at Ayalon Highways, is to implant sensors in the road, at a cost of $100,000 per km. Our technology can be interfaced with the existing networks; it doesn’t interfere with their operations, and it costs much less. Our technology changes the rules of the game,” Feldman declared. Feldman added that Estimotion’s technology had a variety of applications.
ITIS, a publicly traded company, leads the field in the UK, providing traffic information from vehicles supplied with GPS, under contracts with vehicle fleets. Feldman said, “They acquired our technology a month ago. A subsidiary has also been founded in Israel, and will continue developing the product. We hope that this merger will help us to control the global market.”
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on January 28, 2004