Less than five months have passed since the AutoTech company Autonomous Announced the acquisition of Niura for about $ 50 million, and is now reporting another acquisition. The company will pay an initial amount of $ 31.5 million, which could later grow to $ 69 million, for the British company The Floow. The acquired company was founded in 2012 by CEO Aldo Monteforte and two partners.
Autonomo has developed a platform and trading platform for data that is securely collected from connected vehicles. De Flo is a software provider (SaaS) provider of linked insurance technology, for insurance companies around the world.
According to Ben Volkov, founder and CEO of Autonomo, “We see a need for different solutions in our ecosystem, and part of the commitment in our strategy is to expand the range of products. De Flo provides car insurance solutions – they are not an insurance company but a SaaS company, and they have 18 insurance companies as customers. Today in the world of car insurance passes accurate information in real time from the connected cars. Autonomo brings the information and access, and de Flo has the relationship with the insurance companies. Together, it is a very strong solution. “
“The stock is cut, but business is stronger than ever”
According to the company’s announcement, the combination of vehicle data and mobile data from Autonomo and Meda Flo will have a decisive impact on the ability to create innovative, use-based and behavior-based insurance products. The combination will also allow the transition from “identification and repair” models to “prediction and prevention” models, thus creating a safer, greener and smarter driving experience for policyholders. The companies state that they will be able to offer linked insurance solutions based on all sources of data – car manufacturers, mobiles and other devices.
The deal is structured so that over half of the amount depends on meeting the milestones of the acquired company, and it is executed with a little more than 40% of it in cash, and the rest in autonomous shares based on a share price of $ 2.75. However, the share price today is significantly lower, $ 1.42, and reflects to the Nasdaq-traded autonomous value only $ 188 million – 85% lower than its merger value to SPAC in the summer of 2021 (which stood at $ 1.26 billion).
On the issue of the sharp fall in the share price, Volkov says, “It is true that the stock has been cut, but our business has never been as strong as it is today. The numbers are still small, but in the fourth quarter of 2021 revenues were higher than the first three quarters of the year. “We have a strategy, the business is going well. The stock is going up and down – it’s okay, we’re focusing on what needs to be done, which is to build the business.”
Merger to SPAC with $ 208 million in cash
The merger with SPAC also included raising capital, and by the end of 2021 Autonomo had $ 208 million in cash. In October, it announced the acquisition of Israeli Niora, which has developed technology for smart city planners and transportation service operators. According to Volkov, “We are very pleased with Niura. GodIntegration is complete, we are already sitting and working together. ”
Autonomo is one of 20 technology companies from Israel that were issued or merged with SPAC companies during 2021, and most of them have yielded a negative return for investors so far. Other automotive companies that merged with SPAC last year are Invis, REE and Locust Robotics, all of which are currently traded at lower prices than those in which they merged.
The companies suffered both from negative sentiment towards companies that entered the market through SPAC and from the fact that there was a general change in the market, in which investors now prefer to invest in profitable and stable value companies, and less in companies with rapid non-profit growth.