Ford announced the acquisition of Livio Radio, a maker of a platform for in-car apps with a focus on audio/music services. This is Ford’s first tech acquisition in 13 years and aims to improve how it connects smartphones into the dashboard. Livio CEO Jake Sigal told CNET the industry “desperately needs a standard. This deal is a great opportunity to help solve the problem.”
The Ferndale, MI-based startup — now a subsidiary of Ford’s Global Technologies Group — will continue to operate under the original name. Neither party has disclosed the terms of the deal, only stating that Ford paid less than $10M.
“It’s not everyday that something you start out of your bedroom gets acquired by a Fortune 500 company,” Livio CEO and founder Jake Sigal told TechCrunch:
“I visited Livio in late 2012. It’s a small office on a busy road in Ferndale, Michigan. Cement floors. Gadgets and tradeshow props strewn around. The culture was vibrant. You could say, infectious. All the engineers work out of a single conference room, circling around a single table. Sigal told me today they have since outgrown that single room and there are now engineers spilling out into the hallway. Sigal says Livio Radio has an amazing culture focusing on their team.”
Ford CTO Paul Mascarenas says purchasing Livio Radio was about acquiring the talented 11-person team behind Livio Radio, the company’s intellectual property and the ability to forge a standard for automotive apps.
