Hungarian-developed software could soon be in millions of cars
The sale of the Hungarian startup ended with a record amount
This year is certainly the most successful Christmas in the history of the Széchenyi Funds. With today's stock exchange opening, the buyer officially announced the successful closure of perhaps the most significant start-up business in Hungary so far. Thus, the multi-year investment process, as a result of which Stellantis, the owner of Opel, Fiat and Peugeot, among others, acquired one of Hungary's most innovative startups, Aimotive, which develops autonomous technologies, ended with the biggest success of the fund manager to date.
The founder of AiMotive, László Kishonti, realised in time that automobiles will soon be increasingly based on software. The concept of “self-driving car” has become commonplace recently, with thousands of engineers around the world working to create a true self-driving car. And although several have already declared themselves winners in this competition, the task is obviously much more complex than what many had previously hoped for.
AiMotive has the merit of recognizing the complexity of the task early on, and thus, in addition to developing self-driving technology, they have developed a framework and device system that can help other developers to gradually equip their cars with autonomous driving capability. As it has been proven, the company's professional developments have a truly tangible value in this market. This is also due to the successful completion of the sale of one of the hottest Hungarian startups today.
The founder's ideas were joined by renowned professional and financial investors both from home and abroad. For example, Széchenyi Funds and Lead Ventures acquired a stake in the Hungarian software company in 2020, in the depths of the COVID crisis, followed by additional investment circles with their decisive participation, together with other investors.
The exact details of the transaction are a trade secret, but it is certain that there was serious competition for the company. The knowledge center built over the years and the world-class development team will remain in Hungary, and Stellantis promises to expand further.
A real Christmas present for the Hungarian economy.
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