US Firm To Acquire Israeli AI Mobility Startup Waycare For $61M

By NoCamels Team August 09, 2021 2 minutes

The Waycare team. Photo by Yoav Picherski

Israeli startup Waycare Technologies, the developer of an AI-based connected mobility platform for transportation agencies, is set to be acquired by Maryland-based company Rekor Systems, a provider of license plate recognition systems and traffic monitoring solutions.

A public company traded on the Nasdaq, Rekor will pay $61 million in cash and common stock for the acquisition, according to a joint statement. The deal is set to close later this year.

Founded in 2016 in Palo Alto with offices in Tel Aviv, Waycare leverages artificial intelligence and predictive analytics for proactive traffic management optimization, drawing from vast amounts of data points to provide actionable insights, such as crash prediction, irregular traffic detection, and quick incident identification. The platform integrates data from existing transportation networks and sources like city infrastructure, in-vehicle data, navigation apps, and weather forecasts.

The data is synthesized “to create a full holistic picture of what’s happening on the road in real-time,” Waycare CEO and co-founder Noam Maital told NoCamels four months ago in an interview. “We use all those insights to start building operational tools, based on enabled machine learning and deep learning for real-time traffic operations, incident management and predictive analytics as well.”

“Intelligent infrastructure is the foundation upon which smart cities are built,” said Robert A. Berman, president and CEO of Rekor, in a press statement. He listed “three key ingredients” to be a best-in-class solutions provider in the emerging intelligent infrastructure industry and they are: the ability to collect accurate data via sophisticated sensors; process data via cutting-edge software; and capitalize on first-mover advantages by rapidly expanding geographic reach and product offerings.

“We call this having real estate. With the Waycare acquisition, we are significantly strengthening our footprint and meaningfully enhancing our service offering. This acquisition accelerates access to new markets and provides us with new vendor relationships to access unique data sources,” added Berman.

Maital said both Waycare and Rekor “were on an incredible journey building the infrastructure for smart cities which will benefit generations to come.”

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

“By joining Rekor, we now have access to real-time roadway optical sensors, innovative software and enhanced data. Rekor is uniquely positioned to become a leading force in data aggregation and analysis for roadway intelligence,” said Maital.

Rekor’s acquisition of Waycare will expand its footprint and provide opportunities to cross-sell products and services, as well as accelerate access to new markets, the companies said. Waycare’s AI platform is complementary to Rekor’s platform and will be quickly integrated to broaden Rekor’s suite of solutions for safety and incident management.

“Waycare is a rare asset as it already has an established and growing customer base, favorable relationships with third-party data providers that would take years to replicate and a highly talented management team,” said Berman.

Waycare will be fully integrated into Rekor, according to the announcement.