Ford buys software startup Livio

Ford Motor Company has made its first technology acquisition in thirteen years, with the purchase of startup company Livio, in a bid to accelerate its efforts to help drivers safely access content on their smartphone while on the road. Livio, which is based in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale, Michigan, develops software that enables drivers connect to their smartphones through their car radios or dashboard infotainment systems.
October 4, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
278 Ford Motor Company has made its first technology acquisition in thirteen years, with the purchase of startup company Livio, in a bid to accelerate its efforts to help drivers safely access content on their smartphone while on the road.

Livio, which is based in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale, Michigan, develops software that enables drivers connect to their smartphones through their car radios or dashboard infotainment systems.

Ford paid less than US$10 million for the eleven-person startup, said Paul Mascarenas, Ford's chief technical officer. Though owned by Ford, Livio will continue supplying its current customers, including 948 General Motors.

Mascarenas said Livio complements Ford's efforts to allow drivers to safely access phone apps from their cars. Ford's AppLink system, which lets drivers access their apps through voice recognition, will be inside an estimated 7 million vehicles by 2015, Mascarenas said.

Livio was founded five years ago by Jake Sigal, who said joining Ford will help his company's efforts to promote a single standard for in-vehicle connectivity. Car companies are now using a variety of systems, which makes it harder for app developers to bring apps to market quickly. Ford has also promoted the development of a single standard.

"This helps us accelerate the industry standard, which is desperately needed," Sigal said. "It's a lot easier pushing a standard when you're not just a startup in metro Detroit."
Location Based Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Dutch survey shows drivers are in favour of road user charging
    January 16, 2012
    'Keep it simple, stupid' is an oft-forgotten axiom but in terms of road user charging it is entirely appropriate. So says the ANWB's Ferry Smith. A couple of decades ago, it might have been largely true that the technology aspects of advanced road infrastructure were the main obstacles to deployment. However, 20 years or more of development have led to a situation where such 'obstacles' are often no more than a political fig-leaf. Area-wide Road User Charging (RUC) is a case in point; speak candidly to syst
    Read More
  • Telvent relocates and takes a global stance on ITS
    March 12, 2012
    Telvent's Manuel Sanchez Ortega, on relocating the company's headquarters to the US and how that fits in the international scheme of things. The change-of-address cards are in the post; Manuel Sanchez Ortega has just moved homes. The domestic upheaval of Telvent's Chairman and Chief Executive comes as a result of the decision to relocate many of the company's headquarter functions from Madrid to Rockville, Maryland in the US. Viewed in the context of its significant recent acquisitions in North America - am
    Read More
  • Saving the smartphone zombies from themselves
    October 15, 2020
    As roads – particularly in cities – become busier, companies are fielding a steady trickle of products to keep pedestrians safe and vehicles flowing
    Read More
  • Sensys Traffic to acquire Gatso
    June 23, 2015
    Sensys Traffic is to acquire Dutch enforcement company Gatso in a deal worth around US$33.9 million. Sensys’ acquisition of Gatso and the merger of the operations the two companies will create the largest supplier of traffic enforcement equipment with a strong presence in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia, as well as the North American managed services market. The combined company will operate under the name Sensys Gatso Group, with an installed base of 18,000 systems and 202 employees. The
    Read More

Highlighted Content