Palo Alto, March 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Announced today, leading connected car cloud platform company, Mojio, has secured new investment from strategic partners to accelerate the global adoption of its connected car solutions for mobile network operators and automotive manufacturers on both sides of the Atlantic. Adding to the company’s $30M CAD Series B raise in late 2017, Mojio welcomes Iris Capital and TELUS Ventures to its growing roster of strategic backers.
“We are thrilled Iris Capital and TELUS Ventures are fueling this stage in our growth,” stated Mojio CEO, Kenny Hawk. “After a breakthrough year connecting more than half a million cars to our platform, this strategic funding adds fuel to our tank as we drive toward additional launches with major mobile network operators globally.”
On a mission to give every vehicle a voice, Mojio has rapidly connected over 500,000 vehicles via its growing portfolio of mobile network operator customers, including Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile US Inc., and TELUS. After partnering with a mobile network operator, Mojio delivers immediate and affordable connected car features to subscribers through the combination of a plug and play device and a handy mobile app and built-in services.
Mojio is the first international investment outside of Europe for IrisNext, Iris Capital’s latest $280M USD fund. As an independent multi corporate fund supported by Orange, Publicis Groupe, Valeo, BRED and Bpifrance, IrisNext will fuel Mojio’s growth in Europe by leveraging their strong network.
“Iris Capital is one of the leading European venture firms, supporting high tech companies across the world. We are proud to join Mojio’s funding round and support their business acceleration in Europe. Mojio’s technology has great potential and I’m very happy to hop on the adventure to work with them and join the board as an observer,” adds Bernhard Gold, Partner at Iris Capital.
TELUS Ventures, the strategic venture investment arm of TELUS, is reinforcing the Canadian telecommunications brand’s commitment to Mojio following the successful roll-out of TELUS Drive+, the operator’s connected car service, powered by Mojio.
“TELUS’ connected car strategy builds upon our successful Internet of Things (IoT) business which includes developing innovative solutions for both the business and consumer markets across Canada,” said Rich Osborn, Managing Partner, TELUS Ventures. “Through venture investments in emerging technology leaders like Mojio, we not only bring better solutions to market more quickly for our customers and drive better connections, but also help propel the Connected Car market in Canada and internationally with complementary telecom carriers around the world.”
Mojio is connecting cars all over the world, from a 1996 Audi A4 to a brand new 2018 Volvo V60, helping drivers and their families stay coordinated, while keeping their vehicles safe, and cutting down on costly, time-consuming issues associated with car ownership. Common use cases include:
- Getting notified about engine issues to make informed decisions on service and repairs
- Monitoring vehicle location and status to help with ride coordination and family safety
- Locating a stolen vehicle to inform the authorities and have it recovered
- Receiving critical recall notices to ensure remedial action is taken to ensure safety
- Logging business trips to maximize mileage expensing and tax returns
- Using on-demand roadside assistance to get help fast
In addition to delivering frontline services for consumers through their mobile networks, Mojio has already collected over 6 billion miles of driving data. Mojio uses machine learning to generate insights that will shape the future of mobility, making the driving experience smarter, safer and less expensive.
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About Mojio Open, scalable and hardware agnostic, Mojio is the cloud platform of choice for the deployment of secure connected car apps and services. Mojio’s platform delivers a smarter, safer and more convenient driving and vehicle ownership experience to subscribers of major network operators, including Bell Canada, Deutsche Telekom, Rogers Communications, T-Mobile and TELUS. With real-world data gathered from more than 6 billion miles of driving, Mojio provides a big data analytics framework that uses machine learning to generate actionable insights and unlock new revenue streams for companies throughout the automotive value chain.
Founded in 2012, Mojio has growing teams in Vancouver, Palo Alto and Sofia, and some of the world’s biggest brands as customers, partners and investors, Mojio is a career-accelerator for driven tech professionals looking to shape the future of mobility. To learn more about joining our team, please visit Mojio’s careers page.
About Iris Capital
Iris Capital is a European venture capital funds’ manager specialized in the digital economy. It fuels entrepreneurs at various stages of maturity, from early-stage to growth equity. With its deep sector specialization and extensive experience acquired over 30+ years, as well as the backing of its corporate sponsors, Iris Capital provides active support to its portfolio companies, through its presence in Paris, Berlin, San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and Dubai.
IrisNext, Iris Capital’s new fund, includes for its first closing industry leaders such as Orange, Publicis and Valeo, joined by financial investors and institutions such as Bpifrance and BRED Banque Populaire. Iris Capital investments include, among others, companies such as Adjust, Careem, Kyriba, Marco Vasco, Mister Auto, Mojio, Mopub, Netatmo, ReBuy, Shift Technology, and Talend.
For more information, please visit www.iriscapital.com.
About TELUS Ventures
TELUS Ventures is the strategic venture investment arm of TELUS. TELUS Ventures looks to support management teams developing leading technologies in the areas of AI, IOT, 5G Networks and HealthIT. The team is based in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver but invests globally and was named one of the Top 100 Corporate Venture Funds in the world in 2017 by Global Corporate Venture Magazine. For more information, please visit: http://ventures.telus.com.