Varroc to Acquire 74% Stake in CarIQ, A Connected Car Startup

Varroc Engineering Limited, a global Tier 1 auto component manufacturer, has agreed to acquire 74% stake in the Pune-based CarIQ Technologies, a leading integrated connected vehicle solution provider to OEMs, fleet owners and insurance companies.

CarIQ is one of the few Indian tech start-ups that pioneered technology solutions for connected mobility. CarIQ’s proprietary solution is a seamless combination of hardware, software and IoT platform that enables safer driving, optimizing uptime and personal and commercial mobility. Its data analytics platform helps gather engineering data from a car into useful format for vehicle users, OEMs, fleet owners and Insurance Companies. CarIQ platforms have so far analyzed driving patterns for more than 90 million+ kms spread across 50,000+ drivers.

This transaction will complement Varroc’s connected vehicle product offerings such as instrument clusters, telematic devices and other data based analytical products.

Arjun Jain, President – Electrical & Electronics business at Varroc said on the occasion, “Varroc’s direction, even in a softer market, is to drive growth by leveraging automotive trends that will remain constant, trends like the desire to be greener, safer, smarter and more connected. We see our collaboration with CarIQ and the capabilities we will build together and share as a crucial part of both our current and future product strategy.”

Sagar Apte (CEO, CarIQ) and Hrishikesh Nene (CTO, CarIQ) added, “This partnership opens new possibilities for our customers and partners who trust us to build scalable enterprise grade solutions. Together with Varroc, we have ambitious plans to bring affordable and meaningful solutions for the automotive space in India and abroad.”
About Varroc

Based out of Aurangabad, Maharashtra, Varroc Engineering Ltd is a global tier-1 automotive component group and it was incorporated in 1988. We design, manufacture and supply exterior lighting systems, plastic and polymer components, electricals-electronics components, and precision metallic components to passenger car, commercial vehicle, two-wheeler, three-wheeler and off-highway vehicle OEMs directly worldwide.

The group revenue was close to Rs 12,500 crore (USD 1.8 Billion) in FY19, including the share of revenues from the China JV. The group employs more than 13,800+ employees, has 41 global manufacturing facilities and has 185 patents.

India's IoT Startup CarIQ Making Cars Smarter With Its Connected Car Platform

Do you love your car and desire the best for it? Then, this is for you. CariQ is a young Indian startup with a dream of making everyday commute easy and predictable through smarter cars. The company founded in 2012 is making cars smarter by connecting them to a cloud and allowing the car’s driver to make decisions about his/her vehicle based on real time data.

The IoT (Internet of Things) startup us based in Pune and has found investors from the United Kingdom, Singapore and India because of its unique idea. The company's CariQ Connected Car Platform works by deriving data from the microcomputer of the car and then posting it to the servers hosted on the cloud. This data is then analyzed and reports are generated on the car’s condition, driver credibility and much more.

CariQ makes use of its patent pending technology around engine prints in order to collect, analyze and present information to its end consumer. CariQ plugs into the OBD port of the car and then collects information from the various electronic systems of the car such as the air bag system, the engine, ABS, amongst others. All this data is collected along with the car's location information and transmitted directly to the CariQ platform. The company then crunches the data available to it in order to send actionable and meaningful data points to car owners.

[caption id="attachment_95929" align="aligncenter" width="700"] CarIQ device - available to pre-order at price tag of Rs.5999/- [/caption]

CariQ, the device, is a simple plug & play device which can be easily connected into any car. One just needs to open the door and connect the device to the connector near the steering wheel of the car. Once the CariQ device is connected to the car, it is intelligent enough to configure itself according to the car it has been connected to. The device supports various features like service alerts, towing alerts, 'Headlight On' Warning, Rash driving Identification etc.

The company has also undertaken a special initiative called the ‘Mad Scientist Group’ where teams of business and development groups will work on initiatives that do not have immediate business objectives.

According to Sagar Apte, founder and CEO of CariQ, his company wants to become the player that will connect various players in the eco-system at large.

India's IoT Startup CarIQ Making Cars Smarter With Its Connected Car Platform

Do you love your car and desire the best for it? Then, this is for you. CariQ is a young Indian startup with a dream of making everyday commute easy and predictable through smarter cars. The company founded in 2012 is making cars smarter by connecting them to a cloud and allowing the car’s driver to make decisions about his/her vehicle based on real time data.

The IoT (Internet of Things) startup us based in Pune and has found investors from the United Kingdom, Singapore and India because of its unique idea. The company's CariQ Connected Car Platform works by deriving data from the microcomputer of the car and then posting it to the servers hosted on the cloud. This data is then analyzed and reports are generated on the car’s condition, driver credibility and much more.

CariQ makes use of its patent pending technology around engine prints in order to collect, analyze and present information to its end consumer. CariQ plugs into the OBD port of the car and then collects information from the various electronic systems of the car such as the air bag system, the engine, ABS, amongst others. All this data is collected along with the car's location information and transmitted directly to the CariQ platform. The company then crunches the data available to it in order to send actionable and meaningful data points to car owners.

[caption id="attachment_95929" align="aligncenter" width="700"] CarIQ device - available to pre-order at price tag of Rs.5999/- [/caption]

CariQ, the device, is a simple plug & play device which can be easily connected into any car. One just needs to open the door and connect the device to the connector near the steering wheel of the car. Once the CariQ device is connected to the car, it is intelligent enough to configure itself according to the car it has been connected to. The device supports various features like service alerts, towing alerts, 'Headlight On' Warning, Rash driving Identification etc.

The company has also undertaken a special initiative called the ‘Mad Scientist Group’ where teams of business and development groups will work on initiatives that do not have immediate business objectives.

According to Sagar Apte, founder and CEO of CariQ, his company wants to become the player that will connect various players in the eco-system at large.