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5 things to know about Intel-backed autonomous driving tech company Mobileye and its IPO debut

Mobilye
Image credits: Mobileye

In recent years, the development of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) has been on the rise several companies are leading the way in ADAS research and development. One such stellar firm to hit the headline recently is Mobileye.

Successful IPO

The Israel-based Mobileye announced that it began trading on Wednesday, October 26th, on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker “MBLY” in connection with its Initial Public Offering by parent company, Intel. It marked a return to the public markets for Mobileye since Intel acquired it in 2017. 

Mobileye stock opened for trading at $26.71 after the company priced its initial public offering at $21 late Tuesday, raising about $800M. After rising around 42% from the offer price, the company closed at 38% to $28.97, giving Mobileye a market value of about $23B.

The funds

According to the company, a significant portion of the net proceeds from this offering will be used for repayment on a note owed to Mobileye’s parent company, Intel Corporation.

Further, Mobileye intends to use the remaining net proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Besides IPO, Mobileye also announced that General Atlantic would purchase 4,761,905 shares of Class A common stock in a private placement at a price per share equal to the initial public offering price for gross proceeds of $100M, subject to customary closing conditions. Now, let’s break down some quick facts about Mobileye and its success story.

Mobileye’s Origin

Mobileye was founded in 1999 by Prof. Amnon Shashua during his academic research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem into a monocular vision system to detect vehicles using only a camera and software algorithms on a processor. 

After Shashua’s previous startup, Cognitens, he had many connections with different auto manufacturers, which led to the creation of his new company.

Following a critical meeting with an Asian OEM, which secured funding for a concept demo, Shashua formed a team with two of his close friends, Ziv Aviram and Norio Ichihashi.

Shashua and Aviram became two-in-the-box in managing the new startup, where Aviram was responsible for the operations, finance, and investor relations, and Shashua for the technology, R&D, and the strategic vision of the company.

Intel acquired Mobileye

The two-in-the-box arrangement continued by taking the company public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014 and until 2017 when Intel Corp. acquired Mobileye.

Mobileye has a majority share of the current ADAS market, with an estimated 80% of the market, according to analysts. In addition, the company has stated that its technology is in use for cars from over 50 different auto manufacturers, which includes models from 800 different vehicles and 125 million vehicles in total.

Autonomy is the core, but..!

In a letter to prospective investors, Shashua says, “founded Mobileye on the belief that computer-vision technology could help prevent automobile crash and save lives. Our purpose has evolved and widened during that time — from collision avoidance to fully autonomous driving.”

The company has secured multiple deals for Robotaxi services and commercial vehicle production designs for Mobileye’s self-driving system starting in 2024. 

With these new contracts, the company can expand its horizons and provide even more innovative and helpful services to those who need them the most.

Mobileye’s sales have seen a steady incline over the past few years, with a jump to $1.39 billion in 2021. In the first half of this year alone, sales increased by $854 million from the previous year.

Competitions

The competition among the companies in ADAS technology is heating up. This is good news for consumers, as we will see more vehicles with these life-saving features on the road. Mobileye competes with chip makers like Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Advanced Micro Devices Inc on the semiconductor front. In the robot taxi market, the company is already competing with General Motor’s Cruise, Alphabet’s Waymo, Chinese company iMotion.ai and news is rife that Apple will also launch an autonomous car by 2025.

Joined forces with Geely 

China’s largest automaker, Geely, joined forces with Mobileye to develop a consumer-ready autonomous vehicle that they claim will be ready by 2024.

The self-driving car, which will also be battery-electric, will be produced under Geely’s Zeekr brand, which was unveiled last year as the automaker’s new electric mobility technology and solutions company.

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