The Lund-based company, Iternio, and its product, A Better Routeplanner (ABRP), have been acquired by the American company, Rivian.
Bo Lincoln, founder and CEO of Iternio which is located at Ideon Innovation, started ABRP as a hobby project in 2016 after he got his first Tesla. He realized that there was no good way to plan his upcoming trips outside the car and therefore developed ABRP, a software where electric vehicle drivers can plan trips in advance and receive a map that takes into account weather, vehicle weight, and shows charging stations along the way, sent to the car before the journey.
Rivian, which is listed on the Nasdaq and based in California, manufactures electric vehicles and charging systems. As early as June, ABRP will be launched as an integrated service in Rivian’s vehicles. But the software is not exclusive to Rivian, says Bo Lincoln:
– ABRP will continue to be what it is today – an essential tool for all existing and future electric vehicle drivers and for all brands and charging networks. We will continue to collaborate with all vehicle manufacturers who want to improve the ABRP experience in their vehicles and for their owners, in order to get more and better live vehicle data and car integrations.
Bo Lincoln will continue to lead Iternio but now as part of Rivian, and the company will remain at Ideon in Lund. ABRP technology and Iternio have evolved through a combination of talents from Swedish universities, Swedish environmental thinking, and an interest in early technology – in this case electric cars. Bo Lincoln believes there is much to gain by staying at Ideon:
– We have simply seen the opportunities and problems in the transition early and had the right competence and enthusiasm to help find solutions to them – and received good support along the way. Rivian bought Iternio to benefit from our technology and further develop our products, but also to have the opportunity to expand their development teams with talent from Sweden. At Ideon Innovation, there is a high tolerance for rapid changes and individual initiatives, and plenty of other early companies in the same situation to discuss with – it is worth a lot to us.
Anders G Nilsson is the CEO of Ideon Innovation and is particularly pleased that Iternio is staying in Lund:
– That a company the size of Rivian chooses to buy Scanian innovations is a very good endorsement of the standard that the companies here maintain. We at Ideon are extra proud and happy that Rivian realizes that Iternio can be better developed if it stays in Lund, instead of moving the company to the US which is otherwise all too common. We want to continue to strengthen Skåne’s attractiveness so that more innovative companies have everything they need to stay and continue to grow here. The planned Lund Innovation District, Malmö Startup District and Skåne Ventures are important pieces of the puzzle to achieve that vision.
– Ideon Innovation has helped us with financing assistance, a dynamic business environment with many others in the same situation, contacts and workplaces where we could move at a few days’ notice to grow. And not least, they have provided coaching and someone to discuss how best to navigate the startup world, says Bo Lincoln, now Director of Iternio Software Systems, Rivian.
