Israeli car dash cam co Nexar buys Portuguese co Veniam

Israeli smart car dash cam company Nexar has announced the acquisition of US-Portuguese WiFi mesh networks for cars developer Veniam. No financial details were disclosed. According to PitchBook, Veniam is valued at $150 million, but market sources believe that Nexar is taking advantage of the fall in tech company valuations to buy the non-profitable company more cheaply.

Nexar, which develops and markets dash cam cameras and maps cities and roads using them and Veniam, which helps cut the communication costs between vehicles and mobile and Internet networks, and between connected vehicles, will merge into one company that will assist carmakers in operating autonomous cars more efficiently and cheaply. The real-time data that Nexar holds about the latest problems on roads and sudden developments, available parking, and recommended rest areas for drivers can be uploaded to the cloud almost immediately and at little cost using Veniam’s technology and thus help Nexar win many more contracts from autonomous car manufacturers.

Nexar, which was cofounded by CEO Eran Shir, began as a supplier of car cameras in the US and Japan, and today two of its cameras, the Nexar Pro and Nexar Beam, are listed by Amazon as among the 50 most popular vehicle cameras in the US. The company’s main revenue is from sales of the cameras and accessory services for the end users, and partnerships with major insurance companies like Clal Insurance and Inshur in Israel, American Transit and Hereford in the US and MSIG in Japan. Users can operate the dash cams the entire time and provide video clips of any accidents or road obstructions.

Behind the scenes, Nexar is building servers that contain a snapshot of road hazards and obstacles in order to help local authorities direct users to park, or stay away from trouble spots, or to help autonomous vehicle manufacturers with a safer drive that avoids reaching areas with a high risk coefficient. Another product of the company maps safe stopping areas for couriers looking to leave their car or motorcycle for a moment, or recommended parking spots.

Veniam, founded in Portugal, where it has 33 employees, has developed a platform that cuts the mobile company costs of communications for vehicles by splitting off cheaper communications for roads into WiFi and car-to-car communications protocols, in order to reduce the volume of data on 5G networks, which generates high costs for the car manufacturers. Veniam has agreements with some of the largest US telecom companies.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on August 3 2022.

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