Bosch buys the British startup Five and bets on automated driving

German auto parts and technology company, Bosch , acquires Cambridge-based startup, Five , to solidify its position in the automated driving and software market. Although the amount for which the purchase was made has not been revealed.
Within Bosch, the startup will strengthen the company’s agile project structure for the development of autonomous vehicles through a merger of the software of both teams to achieve a single solution, for which it will form part of the ‘Cross-Domain’ division Bosch Computing Solutions.
In the statement announcing the transaction, Markus Heyn , a member of Bosch’s board of directors, said the company wants Five to “give additional impetus to our work in developing software for safe automated driving and offer our customers European manufacturing technology.
In addition, it was reported that Five “preferred Bosch over other takeover bidders”, which it did not identify, and that the deal was signed in early April.
The deal is still subject to approval by antitrust authorities. Well, it should be noted that Bosch recently acquired the company Atlatec , which designs high-definition maps for autonomous cars, and simulation. With this, the German company becomes the only company that can offer its customers all the necessary components for automated driving: from the actuators, sensors, and maps to the software and the engineering environment.
Five is currently focused on a cloud-based development and testing platform for software used in self-driving cars. The tech startup employs 140 people across six locations in the UK.