Bosch Acquires Detroit-based Ridesharing Startup SPLT

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Bosch, which operates a large technical center in Farmington Hills, today announced it has acquired Splitting Fares Inc. (SPLT), a ridesharing startup in Detroit. SPLT’s platform allows companies, universities, and municipal authorities to offer their workforces ridesharing services. The purchase price and details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

SPLT, part of Techstars Mobility, an entrepreneur support platform at Ford Field in downtown Detroit, uses an app to connect commuters who share the same route to work or college. An algorithm finds the best composition for the rideshare and finds the fastest route.

“With SPLT, we are extending our portfolio in the growth area of mobility services,” says Markus Heyn, a member of the Bosch board of management. “Increasingly, smartphones are becoming the most important means of travel.”

Ridesharing, in which digital services and apps are used to organize carpools, vehicle sharing, and taxis, is a growth market in the connected mobility sector. By 2020, the number of people worldwide using rideshares is expected to rise 60 percent to 685 million.

“With this sustainable and affordable mobility service, we want to fundamentally change the way people get from A to B,” says Anya Babbitt, co-founder and CEO of SPLT.

Companies, universities, and municipal authorities can enable access to the SPLT platform for their employees or students, who can book spur of the moment or in advance. Arrival times are displayed in real time, and costs are shared among colleagues and charged online.

The service is intended for commuters who travel the same route each day, and the program is intended for colleagues, so users don’t drive with strangers. Company buses can also be integrated into the app. The system can create lower transportation costs for participants, a smaller environmental impact, and can reduce traffic volume.

SPLT was founded in 2015 and aims to reduce congestion and make the daily commute more relaxed. It has 140,000 users in the U.S., Mexico, and Germany.

Bosch is a global supplier of technology and services based in Germany that employs about 400,500 associates worldwide and generated sales of about 78 billion euros in 2017, according to preliminary figures.