Irish startup receives $500M from SoftBank in its effort to move beyond telecom

The telecom division of SoftBank Group, based in Japan, announced on Tuesday that it will invest 51% of its capital, or 473 million euros, in the Irish startup Cubic Telecom.

SoftBank Group expands beyond its primary business, while Cubic Telecom offers services for internet-connected automobiles.

SoftBank Corp. intends to purchase freshly issued stock from Cubic's employees and management team in a deal that values the European business at more than 900 million euros. The deal should close by June of next year.

With 330 workers and a software platform that assists automakers in managing their connection services across several locations without having to create customized systems for each country they operate in, Cubic was founded in 2009. The software division of the Volkswagen Group and the American chipmaker Qualcomm are among the current stockholders.

According to Cubic, their platform is used by 17 million cars in more than 190 countries, and the number is growing by 450,000 per month. By 2025, it hopes to increase that pace to 700,000 each month.

As the first Japanese company to offer extensive telecommunication services for connected automobiles, SoftBank Corp. will supply network services to Cubic in Japan. The two businesses will also look into additional business ventures, such as the possibility of enhancing connectivity in remote locations by employing satellite-based communication networks.

The action is a result of automakers' growing desire to link their goods to the internet so they can track, maintain, and upgrade cars in real time. They think that having this flexibility will be essential for gaining clients in the future.