Cheap Vehicle Quote, Safety systems supplier Mobileye raises $890 million in IPO
Israel-based vehicle safety technology company Mobileye (NYSE: MBLY) has successfully launched its Initial Public Offering on the New York Stock Exchange, raising approximately $890 million to value the company at a reported $5.3 billion.
You may have never heard of Mobileye, but that doesn’t mean its system isn’t in your car. The company, which lists its headquarters in the Netherlands (much like Fiat Chrysler vehicles and the Renault Nissan Alliance) but operates its R&D center in Jerusalem, develops and produces safety systems for vehicles that combine cameras (instead of radar) and software algorithms to detect other vehicles, pedestrians and lane markers (among other objects) to keep the car on the straight and narrow. While it sells systems (often purchased by fleet operators) that can be retrofitted to existing vehicles, a large portion of its business is in selling its devices to vehicle and truck manufacturers for installing in their products on the assembly line. Mobileye lists among its customers General Motors, Ford and Chrysler; Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Hyundai; Audi, BMW, Volvo, PSA and Jaguar Land Rover. The company is said to be developing its own autonomous vehicle prototype.