Bosch Acquires 14% Stake In Deeptech Startup Zeliot

Multinational technology company Bosch Ltd. has acquired a 14% minority stake in Bengaluru-based deeptech B2B startup Zeliot Connected Services.

Bosch said that this investment would help the company enhance its role in the mobility landscape through offerings on digital platforms in personalised and connected mobility.

“The combination of Bosch’s Mobility Marketplace and Zeliot micro services platform will create a one-stop-shop for the new age mobility players while improving vehicle ownership experience for all stakeholders,” Bosch said in a statement. 

“Zeliot will leverage the SaaS portfolio of Bosch‘s mobility platform to augment its digital product lifecycle from development to customer experience,” Bosch statement added.

Founded in 2018, Zeliot offers connected mobility solutions to enterprises and Automotive OEMs. This investment, supplemented with Bosch Mobility Marketplace, is expected to additionally enhance the startup’s ability to offer microservices as APIs, offering device-agnostic solutions for more customers in India.

Bosch said that at a time when the automotive industry is undergoing rapid technology transformation, the company has been working extensively in the connected mobility environment to create a digital mobility ecosystem that has safety and sustainability at its core. 

In fact, Bosch has been consciously foraying into new business models. Its recent acquisitions and the launch of Mobility Could Platform and Mobility Marketplace, a platform to transact digital assets, reflect the same.

As per a 2021 analysis, the global connected mobility solutions market is expected to grow with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19% by the end of 2023, with Bosch being one of the key players in the market along with companies such as Siemens AG, Mitsubishi Motors Corp, NXP Semiconductors.

Incidentally, the picture is not different if we talk about India alone, especially with the fast-changing mobility solutions market in the country.

Bosch started its first venture investment in India in 2019 with a Bengaluru-based deeptech startup SimYog Technologies, Inc42 had reported. There were reports in February this year that Bosch would invest a total of INR 2,000 Cr in India in the next five years towards the localisation of advanced automotive technologies.

While there is less scope for autonomous solutions in India in the immediate future, as suggests a 2020 study by Research and Markets, beyond 2030 the scenario might change, when mass market OEMs are likely to start offering safety-driven L1 features.

Currently, the booming delivery services and electronic vehicle (EV) market in India is further enabling the growing demand for enhanced connected mobility solutions. 

Inc42 reported last year how the electric scooters of the delivery executives are now AI and IoT enabled so that the driver’s behaviour can be monitored for safe and timely delivery of goods. 

Companies have also started using Telematics devices for tracking and monitoring vehicle movement during delivery. 

Hence, more players are also coming in the connected mobility solutions segment with newer products. Gurugram-based Fleetx, TrakNTell, Pune-based Intangles, Bengaluru-based LightMetrics, Safetrax are some of the other players in the segment providing connected mobility solutions.