Masternaut

Last updated
Masternaut Limited
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Telematics
Founded1996
FounderSerge Deleau
Headquarters London,
England, UK
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Dhruv S. Parekh (CEO)
Number of employees
400
Parent Michelin
Website www.masternaut.com

Masternaut Limited is a telematics company specialising in fleet and asset management. They achieved initial recognition with Martin Port as CEO and subsequently with Martin Hiscox as Chairman were featured as a 2015 UK Government Future 50 Tech Company and in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100, a list of the fastest growing UK technology firms, in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2014. [1] In April 2011 Masternaut merged with former AIM-listed competitor Cybit, and is operating under the Masternaut name. The company is owned by Summit Partners and Fleetcor, following its acquisition from Francisco Partners in 2014. [2] and are now owned by Michelin. Masternaut has around 400 employees, based in the UK and France.

Contents

History

Masternaut was founded in 1996 by Serge Deleau in France under the name SDM. In 2012, the company rebranded to Masternaut under Martin Hiscox with the backing of Francisco Partners. In 2013, Masternaut acquired Three X, a mobile workforce software business, from GE. [3]

Previously a Masternaut competitor, AIM-listed Cybit, led by CEO Richard Horsman, acquired Thales Telematics from Thales Group [4] and public sector telematics specialist Amatics [5] in 2007. Cybit made a further acquisition in 2008 of Truck24, a German Telematics Logistics provider, for €4 million. [6] In 2009, private equity firm Francisco Partners acquired Cybit Holdings plc in a £23 million deal, taking the company private. [7] Cybit also acquired Oxloc, a specialist non-powered asset tracking devices provider, that year. [8] Meanwhile, Masternaut was on the acquisition trail, signing hosting and data store company Fibre-City for £6 million. [9]

In 2011, Bill Henry as CEO with Martin Hiscox as Chairman with the backing of Francisco Partners Private Equity merged Masternaut with Cybit in a £100m deal to create Europe's largest telematics solutions[ buzzword ] provider, with a 10,000-strong customer base spread across 32 countries. [10] [11] However, Berg Insight reported that this position was lost in 2015 to Tom as new business growth faltered. The Berg report for 2016 indicates Masternaut continues to lose market share to key competitors. Masternaut remains the largest telematics provider in the UK and as part of the FleetCor family, is one of the largest fleet suppliers in the UK, covering a fleet's total cost of ownership needs.[ citation needed ]

Masternaut signed a partnership with Telefonica in 2012, estimated to be worth $910 million between 2012 and 2020. [12] Masternaut also has partnerships with SwissCom and with many specialist fleet providers.[ citation needed ]

In 2014, Masternaut Group Holdings was sold by Martin Hiscox, then Chairman and CEO and Francisco Partners to Summit Partners and Fleetcor Technologies for an undisclosed sum. The company appointed Dhruv S. Parekh as CEO of Masternaut in 2015. [13]

Masternaut Connect, the next generation of the company's enterprise-grade SaaS platform, launched and grew at 25-30% per annum. Their product range expanded with a driver mobile application, a specialised cold chain solution[ buzzword ] and a plug-and-play telematics device. Partnerships for factory-fit telematics (Vauxhall, PSA, Renault) [14] and for pre-equipped leased/hired vehicles (Fraikin, Petit Forestier, Lex) [15] have improved overall access to telematics. As a result, surveys revealed an improvement of +50 in Masternaut's global NPS (Net Promoter Score) between 2017 and early 2019.

In 2018, Masternaut underwent a company rebranding, including a new logo and a new proposition: the unseen advantage, emphasising Masternaut's supposed ability to "help companies leverage fleet data to optimise costs and transform business operations".[ citation needed ] The creation of a data science team, able to provide bespoke deep analysis from customer and global trends, was a key part of this transition.[ citation needed ]

Michelin acquired Masternaut in 2019 [16] making it their third major acquisition in fleet telematics. With the other acquisitions in North America and South America, Masternaut gives Michelin access to the European market.[ citation needed ]

Technology

Masternaut offers many telematics services that use many different technologies. These services use Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to track vehicle or asset locations, which are then transmitted via GPRS and GSM mobile networks to Masternaut's data centres and Masternaut Connect, their software platform. Customers are able to view their fleet's data instantly.[ citation needed ]

CAN, OBD, and 12V cigarette lighter port

Masternaut is able to connect fleets in different ways (CAN bus, OBD port and cigarette lighter) that can be integrated as part of a mixed fleet service. Masternaut's patented CAN clip provides the most real-time data and is less intrusive[ citation needed ], whereas the OBD-II device is typically easier to install. The third option is a device that plugs into a vehicle's cigarette lighter (12V outlet), making it easy to plug/unplug and deliver obvious driver privacy.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

Thales Group is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors. The company is headquartered in Paris' business district, La Défense, and its stock is listed on the Euronext Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telematics</span> Interdisciplinary field that encompasses telecommunications

Telematics is an interdisciplinary field encompassing telecommunications, vehicular technologies, electrical engineering, and computer science. Telematics can involve any of the following:

Nielsen Holdings plc is an American information, data and market measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 44,000 people worldwide.

Acronis International GmbH, simply referred to as Acronis, is a Swiss technology company with its corporate headquarters in Schaffhausen, Switzerland and global headquarters in Singapore. Acronis develops on-premises and cloud software which integrate backup, disaster recovery, cybersecurity, and endpoint management. Acronis has 15 offices worldwide. Its R&D centers, Acronis Labs, are based in Bulgaria, the United States, Italy, Serbia and Singapore. Acronis has 54 cloud data centers around the world, including the United States, France, Singapore, Japan, and Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telit Cinterion</span> Internet of things communications company

Telit Cinterion is an Internet of Things (IoT) Enabler company headquartered in Irvine, California, United States. It is a privately held company with key operations in the US, Brazil, Italy, Israel, and Korea.

Machine to machine (M2M) is direct communication between devices using any communications channel, including wired and wireless. Machine to machine communication can include industrial instrumentation, enabling a sensor or meter to communicate the information it records to application software that can use it. Such communication was originally accomplished by having a remote network of machines relay information back to a central hub for analysis, which would then be rerouted into a system like a personal computer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcatel-Lucent</span> French global telecommunications equipment company

Alcatel–Lucent S.A. was a multinational telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel SA and U.S.-based Lucent Technologies, the latter being a successor of AT&T's Western Electric and a holding company of Bell Labs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TIBCO Software</span> American enterprise software company

TIBCO Software Inc. is a business unit of Cloud Software Group that provides enterprise software. It has headquarters in Palo Alto and offices in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SafeNet</span> Information security company

SafeNet, Inc. was an information security company based in Belcamp, Maryland, United States, which was acquired in August 2014 by the French security company Gemalto. Gemalto was, in turn, acquired by Thales Group in 2019. The former SafeNet's products include solutions for enterprise authentication, data encryption, and key management. SafeNet's software monetization products are sold under the Thales Sentinel brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telogis</span>

Telogis was a privately held US-based company that develops location-based software to manage mobile resources. Telogis sold software as a service (SaaS) which incorporated location information into applications for fleet owners as well as geospatial software development toolkits.

A vehicle tracking system combines the use of automatic vehicle location in individual vehicles with software that collects these fleet data for a comprehensive picture of vehicle locations. Modern vehicle tracking systems commonly use GPS or GLONASS technology for locating the vehicle, but other types of automatic vehicle location technology can also be used. Vehicle information can be viewed on electronic maps via the Internet or specialized software. Urban public transit authorities are an increasingly common user of vehicle tracking systems, particularly in large cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lytx</span> American technology company that designs, manufactures and sells video telematics

Lytx is a San Diego, California based technology company that designs, manufactures and sells video telematics products used by commercial and public-sector fleets to help improve driver safety and business productivity. Products include risk detection, fleet tracking, and driver safety programs that use artificial intelligence and analysts to identify risky driving behaviors and report real-time fleet information. The company's clients include waste management and sanitation companies, trucking and distribution, government and municipality vehicles, passenger transit, construction, utilities, telecom and field services. Lytx also provides compliance services for trucking fleets regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

ERM Electronic Systems ltd., also known as ERM Advanced Telematics, is an Israeli electronic company specializing in the design, development, and manufacture of vehicle security and GPS tracking devices for the telematics and fleet management industry. ERM Advanced Telematics operates globally, providing telematics devices for Stolen Vehicle Recovery (SVR) and Fleet Management Solutions (FMS), all seamlessly integrated within vehicle security.

RacoWireless is a provider of wireless products and services focusing on the machine to machine (M2M) industry. The company delivers wireless data and provides a platform for companies to build and support wireless M2M applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KORE Wireless</span> American telecommunications company

KORE Wireless Group specializes in Internet of Things (IoT) systems. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. In March 2021, KORE and Cerberus Telecom Acquisition Corp. announced a definitive merger agreement. Upon completion of the transaction, the combined company, which has a pro forma valuation of $1.04 billion, expects to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “KORE”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corpay</span> U.S. financial services company

Corpay, Inc. is a global business payments and spend management company that provides solutions that control expense-related purchasing and payment processes. Corpay is an S&P 500 company with a portfolio of brands that automate, secure, digitize and manage billions of payment transactions annually on behalf of businesses across more than 100 countries in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

Geotab Inc. is a Canadian technology company headquartered in Oakville, Ontario. The company develops and markets telematics hardware and software for use with motor vehicles. The company's products are primarily used for fleet management, including on-board diagnostics, electronic logging, route optimization, accident data recording and CO2 emissions reporting.

Octo Group S.p.A., operating as Octo Telematics and corporately styled as OCTO, is an Italian multinational technology company. Founded in Italy in 2002, OCTO is most known for providing telematics and Internet of things (IoT) analytics to the auto insurance industry. This is commonly known as Usage-based insurance (UBI) or pay-as-you-drive insurance. Today, the company is one of the largest telematics and data analytics service provider for the car insurance industry. With their advanced analytical services, OCTO also serves the fleet management industry and provides IoT solutions to a number of other markets.

Radius Limited is a software and technology company headquartered in Crewe, Cheshire. established in March 2016, Radius has a presence in 29 countries. and operates services across Fuel Cards, Telematics Insurance, Vehicle Solutions, Telecoms and EV. With 3,000 employees globally and a presence in five continents; Radius is on a fast growth track. Radius Our Offices

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CalAmp</span>

CalAmp Corporation is an Irvine, California-based provider of Internet of things (IoT) software applications, cloud services, data intelligence and telematics products and services. The company's technology includes edge computing devices and SaaS-based applications for remotely tracking and managing vehicles, drivers, cargo and other mobile assets. The company also owns the patents and trademarks for the LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery System and provides connected car and lot management products.

References

  1. ↑ "Fast Track100". Sunday Times. 2009. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "Telematics provider Masternaut bought by Summit Partners and FleetCor". Fleet News. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Tracking move". Fleet News. 10 October 2006. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "Cybit acquires Thales Telematics". Computer Weekly. 16 February 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  5. ↑ "Cybit acquires Amatics". Modern Utility Management. 1 December 2007. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "CybIT acquires TRUCK24 for total 4 mln euros". LSE. April 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  7. ↑ "Europe News: Francisco Clinches Cybit Deal". EBSCO Host. December 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-08-18. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  8. ↑ "Cybit acquires OxLoc". Manufacturing and Logistics IT. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  9. ↑ "Europe News: Masternaut Three X acquires FibreCity for £6m". Telegraph. 14 February 2009. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "New tracking business formed in merger". Growth Business. 12 April 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  11. ↑ "Chancellor backs UK grab for data analytics market". Telegraph. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  12. ↑ "Need for revenue drives Telco M&A". Financial Times. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  13. ↑ "Masternaut Appoints Dhruv S. Parekh as chief executive officer". Fleet News. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "PSA Group partners with Masternaut to provide telematics to fleets". Fleet News. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  15. ↑ "Fraikin and Masternaut team up in Europe to offer an innovative commercial telematics solution". PR Newswire. January 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  16. ↑ "Michelin to acquire Masternaut". Fleet News. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.