Tobii acquires Phasya to enhance its offering in automotive and other verticals
Tobii, the world leader in eye tracking, today announces that it has signed a agreement to acquire Phasya, an innovative provider of software for monitoring physiological and cognitive states that influence human behavior.
With industry-leading accuracy, Phasya’s AI-based software analyzes biometric signals such as eye tracking or heart rate to monitor cognitive states including drowsiness, cognitive load, and distraction. The company’s algorithms are necessary components in all Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS), to understand the driver states impacting safety, driving experience, and comfort. Phasya’s solutions can also be deployed within industries such as aviation, rail, and consumer electronics. The solution is built on more than a decade of cutting-edge research in collaboration with The University of Liège, Belgium.
Rationale for the acquisition
Phasya’s technology and long experience within development and validation of algorithms to assess cognitive states is highly complementary to Tobii´s expertise and eye tracking technology. This will enhance Tobii’s Driver Monitoring System, Tobii DMS, that was announced today. It also opens new opportunities for using cognitive state information in several markets, such as VR, AR, Scientific Research, and Gaming, providing substantial synergies. The company currently collaborates with numerous customers within automotive, technology, and aviation, as well as with leading industry associations providing key relationships for Tobii and Phasya to build on.
Phasya is in its early pre-revenue commercialization phase. By leveraging its resources and capabilities, Tobii will be able to accelerate the commercialization of Phasya’s offering. Tobii expects the business to scale rapidly, driven by integrations of the algorithms in Tobii´s existing solutions as well as in new applications, and with the mass market adoption for automotive DMS expected in 2024/25.
“Tobii and Phasya are a perfect strategic fit. By combining two strong teams with complementary expertise, products, and customer relationships, we will unlock significant synergies.” said Henrik Eskilsson, CEO of Tobii. “We welcome the Phasya team to the Tobii family and look forward to push the boundaries for attention computing in Automotive, VR, AR, gaming and other markets.”
Jérôme Wertz, CEO at Phasya, commented: “Through this process it has become increasingly clear that Tobii is a fantastic home for Phasya. By leveraging Tobii’s organization and strong experience of scaling businesses, Phasya’s team and solutions will reach its full potential. We look forward to driving groundbreaking innovation and introducing exciting new possibilities across industries”
Details of the acquisition
Tobii will pay a maximum purchase price of around EUR 4m, of which around EUR 2m is contingent on performance over the coming five years. Tobii intends to pay for the acquisition in cash using existing funds. The acquisition is expected to close August 6, 2021, and Phasya will be fully consolidated in Tobii´s external reporting from the same date.
This information is information that Tobii AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, on August 5, 2021, at 17:30 CEST.
Contact
Lina Perdius, Head of Communications, Tobii AB, phone: +46 (0)70 018 78 75, email: lina.perdius@tobii.com
Henrik Mawby, Head of Investor Relations, Tobii Group, phone: +46 (0)72 219 82 15, email: henrik.mawby@tobii.com
About Tobii
Tobii is the global leader in eye tracking. Our mission is to improve the world with technology that understands human attention and intent. Tobii operates through three business units: Tobii Dynavox makes specially designed computers that are controlled by eye movement or touch screens for use by people with special needs due to spinal cord injuries, CP, ALS or other medical conditions. Tobii Pro develops and sells eye tracking equipment and services used today by more than 3,500 companies and 2,500 research institutions, including 98 of the world’s 100 highest ranked universities. Tobii Tech supplies eye tracking technology for integration into consumer electronics and other products such as personal computers, virtual reality headsets, healthcare applications, automotive DMS and more. Tobii is headquartered in Sweden and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (TOBII). The group has over 1,000 employees. For more information: www.tobii.com.
About Phasya
Phasya specializes in software for monitoring physiological and cognitive states. Its mission is to improve safety, performance, user experience, and well-being of people interacting with equipment and contents. Phasya is a University of Liege spin-off, founded in December 2014. In 2019, Phasya received an Innovation Award from CLEPA, the EU association of automotive suppliers, for its innovations in software for driver monitoring and its validation. Phasya has been supported by the WSL incubator and several investors such Gesval, ScaleFund, Noshaq, W.IN.G and Be Angels members. For more information: www.phasya.com
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