Canadian co Element Fleet Management buys Israel's Autofleet

Autofleet team  credit: Efrat Mazor
Autofleet team credit: Efrat Mazor

Among Autofleet's customers is Alphabet's automomous taxi company Waymo.

Element Fleet Management Corp. (Toronto: EFN) of Canada, which manages vehicle fleets primarily in North America and has a market cap of CA$10 billion, is buying Israeli startup Autofleet for $110 million, according to an announcement released early today in Toronto.

The Israeli company, which was founded in 2018 by Kobi Eisenberg (CEO) and Dor Shay (CTO), and employs 70 people, will become Element Fleet Management’s Israeli development center, but will continue to operate as an independent profit center, and will sell its products independently.

Altogether, $28 million has been invested in Autofleet, by funds such as Maniv Mobility, MizMaa Ventures, and Next Gear Ventures, which will make a handsome return, and two strategic investors: the venture capital arm of tire company Goodyear, and Fujitsu, both of which participated in the company’s last fund raising round. These two investors, together with Keyframe Capital Partners, will not see a large return on their investment since, according to PitchBook, they invested three years ago at a valuation similar to that at which the company is now being sold.

In 2021, Autofleet raised $20 million at a valuation of $109 million. Although the acquisition price is almost the same, it nevertheless represents an achievement for the company, which has managed to maintain its valuation in relation to the bubble of the summer of 2021, and has done a huge deal with a Canadian corporation during wartime. "I feel full of personal pride at the fact that in a period like this of daily threat, money is coming into the country as part of a deal in which a Canadian company that is active all over the world expresses confidence in us and enables us to expand our team," Eisenberg told "Globes".

Eisenberg and Shay both formerly worked at taxi hailing app company Gett. Autofleet sells software that helps vehicle fleet managers to extract the most from every vehicle, minimize expenditure on them, and manage their maintenance. Its customers are care hire companies, vehicle manufacturers, taxi firms, and truck and electric scooter fleets. Among its customers is Google parent company Alphabet’s autonomous taxi unit Waymo, considered the most advanced company in its field in Western countries. Waymo runs a fleet of autonomous taxis in San Francisco, Waymo One, and earlier this month it announced that it would invest $5 billion in development of its fleets.

Another customer is car sharing company Zipcar. Autofleet offers three kinds of product: fleet management - a simulator that facilitates demand forecasting on the basis of historical data, or planning of the location of charging stations on the basis of the fleet’s behavior; optimization of the management system - maintenance management and management of stock of vehicles at different points in the customer’s geographical deployment; and operation of travel services, such as deliveries management, school buses, and non-emergency medical transportation.

"Having previously worked with Autofleet and witnessed the common culture, commitment to clients, and focus on delivering impactful results that our two companies share, we are thrilled to welcome them to the Element organization as an integral part of our business. We are confident their expertise will enable us to fast-track the modernization of our digital capabilities, enhance our ability to scale our core business more quickly, and ultimately deliver increased value to our clients and shareholders," Element Fleet Management CEO Laura Dottori-Attanasio said.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 14, 2024.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.

Autofleet team  credit: Efrat Mazor
Autofleet team credit: Efrat Mazor
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