It’s confirmed, Amazon will expand its empire a little more by heading to the world of mobility . The retail giant has indeed confirmed Friday the acquisition of the young American shoot Zoox, specializing in autonomous vehicles. While the coronavirus crisis has benefited him, the company is investing in a sector where many ambitions have been lowered.
If the amount of the transaction has not been disclosed, the Financial Times reports a sum of $ 1 billion. Founded in 2014, the start-up aims to develop an autonomous driving technology for vehicles but also to provide a complete solution for private transport services.
Amazon invests in automotive
The company, which is expected to remain independent, will continue to be chaired by current CEO Aicha Evans and Jesse Levinson, co-founder and also chief technology officer, the statement said.
Reports that Amazon was interested in Zoox had been reported as early as the end of May. The Zoox start-up has chosen “one of the most expensive routes in the autonomous driving industry”, analyzes the website The Verge, which consists in building an autonomous passenger vehicle that adapts to needs. Zoox has thus worked on the creation of software allowing the creation of electric robot taxis.
However, the company has made significant cost reductions over the past year, and recruited a former Intel , in order to market its product. The company had aroused a great deal of enthusiasm on the part of the investors but the interest fell again while the deployment of the fleets of autonomous vehicles turns out to be slower than expected. The start-up would not have succeeded in raising additional funds, which had cast doubts on its future.
For its part, Amazon recently increased its investments in the automobile, notably by participating last year in a $ 530 million round of funding intended to finance the specialist in autonomous driving Aurora. He also ordered 100,000 pick-ups electric to the American manufacturer Rivian, to improve its delivery system.