In May 2020, Intel went shopping. And he went to Israel. Especially for a technology company that was worth a lot for what it did and continues to do, as well as for what it knew. Moovit, the urban mobility app that exists almost everywhere in the world, has been a mine of data. With 6 billion anonymous data, it has the largest mobile data store on the planet. One that adds information from public and private companies, operators or mobility sharing companies.
Already in 2017, Intel also acquired another technology company based in Israel. Mobileye, which builds autonomous cars and improves older models, has become part of an American company. They wanted to get fully involved in the self-driving car race, which at the time was and continues to be led by Tesla’s Elon Musk.
With the purchase of Moovit, both companies were expected to create synergies. A common point for bringing Intel to a new level. What wasn’t clear was how they were going to do it. So the first steps have been taken. Using its knowledge of urban mobility in over 3,500 cities, Moovit will become the visible face of Mobileye self-driving cars.
The so-called robotaxis, which they want to launch in Israel in 2023, will use the Moovit software via MoovitAV for management and requests. In addition, they will also be integrated with the public and private transport offer already available on the mobile app. Thanks to this and thanks to their knowledge of the data, want to improve transport management in cities. For other cities? Future addresses will be announced in the future, according to Yovav Meydad, director of marketing for Moovit.
Moovit wants to monetize ads
Building their own Robotaxi system with Mobileye opens up a new monetization path for Intel’s technology subsidiary. However, they are also working on another great way to generate income for their data business. And this is the logical path. The company first created an ecosystem, now wants to make it profitable.
Based on a large database from which they know their usage and habits, Moovit prepares an advertising and sponsorship model. The company wants some businesses and institutions to be displayed on the route map for users. This way, if they search somewhere, they won’t have to switch to other apps.
In general, it will be something like Google Maps, but with paid visits. Logically, with fewer appearances than its most direct competitor. In this case, they give the example of a McDonald’s or eatery that might be at a strategic point for the user.
However, as Meidad assures, they still need to work on growing their user base and ensuring it grows in order to secure their future growth and monetization path. They are also in the process of reaching out to potential partners that will eventually appear on the platform.
Problem with public transport
Moovit has grown with the advent of Covid. If they blamed the fall of imprisonment, the very one that affected all international activity, now they claim that they are recording record numbers. And the fact is that in this case several joints converged.
On the one hand, Moovit was looking for ways to adapt to the realities of the moment. Due to the need to maintain interpersonal distance, information on the capacity of various modes of transport has been added to the application. This has resulted in an increase in app usage. Now, with rising fuel prices, “many people who used to drive have switched to public transport,” they explain.
However, the inclusion of paying for public transport tickets improved the company’s data the most. In Holland, Israel and several US cities, Moovit has added in-app purchases during the pandemic. It was the perfect time for a world that didn’t want to touch anything or exchange money with anyone. In such cases, it was easy. The integrated and unified systems of these regions in the case of public transport ensured a rapid transition. With the software ready for this moment, Moovit didn’t have much to fight with either side.
In Spain, this process is slow. They assure that they are negotiating with local administrations to help with any changes. But, they explain, many cannot currently integrate this type of service with third parties. If that happens in the future, he adds, “they’ll be happy to be at this stage.” They guarantee in any case that, despite everything, good condition open data of the country helped to obtain up-to-date information. In many other countries it is still a dream. However, for the next step, they have yet to adhere to all levels of local administrations. Something that remains a challenge to this day.
Source: Hiper Textual
