Palo Alto Based Startup – 'Autonomic' Acquired By Ford

Ford Motor Company announced Thursday that it has bought Palo Alto startup Autonomic Technologies Inc. as part of its effort to develop self-driving ride services aimed at improving traffic and transportation in cities nationwide. Established in 2016 by CEO Sunny Madra and COO Amar Varma, the 70-employee startup develops software related to self-driving vehicles. Under Ford, Madra will lead a program called “Ford X,” which will develop the new ride services.
Ford previously invested an undisclosed amount in Autonomic earlier in 2017 before ultimately purchasing the company earlier this week. The Detroit based giant, is working with Autonomic to build an open, cloud-based platform to work with cities interested in building infrastructure communications.
The platform would enable communication and basic transactions between various components of transportation infrastructure, like connected stoplights and parking spots.