IT services and consulting major Wipro said on Tuesday it has invested $5.85 million (Rs 48.5 crore) to acquire a 27% stake in SDVerse, an automotive software marketplace, along with General Motors (GM) and Magna.
Wipro, GM and Magna have teamed up to develop a B2B sales platform for buying and selling automotive software, the IT major said in a regulatory filing.
Wipro will invest $5.85 million in cash in the company and the transaction is expected to be completed before the end of March 2024. “Wipro’s step-down subsidiary, Wipro IT Services LLC has entered into an agreement with General Motors and Magna International, who will hold 46% and 27% stake in SDVerse, respectively,” the filing said.
Prashant Gulati has been named CEO of SDVerse effective March 5, 2024. Currently, Gulati is the chief strategy officer at App Orchid AI and has over 20 years of experience in the technology automotive industry including a stint in KPIT Technologies.
“Investment into SDVerse strengthens Wipro’s positioning as a leader in the software defined vehicle/cloud car engineering services. The transaction is in alignment with Wipro’s strategic focus on embedded software for the automotive sector,” the company added.
SDVerse serves as a ‘matchmaking’ digital platform between buyers and sellers of embedded automotive software that focuses on increasing transparency and reduces inefficiencies in software development and procurement.
“The market for automotive software is expected to nearly double this decade, potentially outpacing the growth of software development talent pools. The current paradigm for software sourcing will likely not be able to overcome this growing gap without sacrificing both profitability and the auto industry’s aspirations for software-defined vehicles. SDVerse addresses these pain points, offering a wide range of benefits across the industry,” said Harmeet Chauhan, global head Wipro Engineering Edge.
Global strategy consultant Roland Berger has served as the project’s strategic advisor since the program’s inception.
On an acquisition spree, last month, Wipro announced its decision to acquire US-based insurtech firm Aggne Global Inc. and its Hyderabad-based affiliate Aggne Global IT Services for $66 million.
Over the last two years, Wipro made around four other acquisitions including its biggest acquisition with London-headquartered business and technology management consultancy firm Capco for $1.45 billion. Other buyouts include Rizing, CAS in April 2022 and Edgile in December 2021.
Source: Economic Times