As one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers, HELLA has an extensive sensor portfolio that makes a significant contribution to making driving safer, more efficient and more comfortable. These include, for example, high-performance radar, battery and rain-light-climate sensors. Many of these HELLA sensors generate large amounts of data. In order to further improve the performance of the sensors based on data from millions of vehicles, HELLA has entered a partnership with connected vehicle data provider Wejo. The relationship also aims to potentially develop new data-driven business models. As part of the collaboration, HELLA acquired a minority stake in Wejo.
“HELLA is already a strong supplier for a wide range of different sensors. For us, Wejo is an important partner with whom we can also tap into the processing of sensor data in the cloud. More specifically, we want to gain a better understanding of how data is standardized, enriched and turned into monetizable products on Wejo’s data marketplace,” said Kay Talmi, managing director of HELLA Aglaia and responsible for coordinating HELLA’s company-wide software activities. “We are excited to leverage these findings to improve HELLA’s future product portfolio and explore new business models.”
Wejo was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Manchester, United Kingdom. The company’s core product is a platform that processes data from 10.6 million connected vehicles from different car manufacturers. These vehicles transmit around 400,000 data points per second, which include movement data such as speed and position of the vehicle, as well as event-related data, for example, from a deployed airbag or an activated brake assistant. This data is processed by Wejo and made available to other partners on the platform either directly or in the form of tailored products and services. Wejo’s customers include, for example, transportation and municipal organizations, road authorities and navigation service providers.
“HELLA and Wejo are convinced that there is significant value in using data from connected vehicles to derive insights and intelligent solutions for various stakeholders in the mobility ecosystem,” said Richard Barlow, CEO of Wejo. “HELLA is one of the world’s leading suppliers of automotive sensor technology and we are delighted to have won a partner with an exceptionally high level of technological expertise. The collaboration with HELLA will help us develop an even deeper understanding of sensor data and to use it as a basis for developing even better products for our customers.”
The first joint pilot projects between HELLA and Wejo are currently being defined and will begin shortly. A strategic investment in Wejo also forms part of the collaboration between the two companies. The investment has been made by the Silicon Valley-based venture capital arm HELLA Ventures. The contracting parties have agreed not to disclose the exact amount of the investment.
“By cultivating strong partnerships with some of the world’s largest original equipment manufacturers, Wejo has been able to build up one of the largest sets of high-quality connected vehicle data as an independent platform,” said Martin Rudigier, principal at HELLA Ventures. “With our investment, we are excited to position ourselves as a strong partner and join Wejo in its mission to maximize the value of connected car data with customized solutions for the public and private sector.”
