Smart Eye, a supplier of driver monitoring systems for automakers, has agreed to acquire human behavior software company iMotions for $46.6 million just five months after it snapped up emotion-detection software startup Affectiva.
Smart Eye, a publicly traded Swedish company, said Tuesday this is a cash-and-stock deal. Smart Eye will provide $23.2 million (200 million Swedish kroner) in shares and the remaining amount will be paid in cash. iMotions, which employs 63 people, will operate as a standalone company within the Smart Eye Group. The company’s structure and management team will remain in place, according to Smart Eye.
The acquisition is notable because it signals growing consolidation within the driver monitoring systems segment, a trend that Smart Eye CEO and founder Martin Krantz confirmed in comments to TechCrunch.
“We expect to see continued consolidation of DMS vendors due to increased demand for DMS and interior sensing, which is already ramping up amongst …
