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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowJourney Holding Corp.—formed this year through the merger of fast-growing Indianapolis-based tech company DoubleMap Inc. and Salt Lake City-based Ride Systems LLC—is being acquired by a unit of Ford Motor Co., the automaker announced Tuesday.
Ford Smart Mobility LLC plans to integrate Journey’s products and technologies with Durham, North Carolina-based TransLoc, a Ford-owned provider of technology products for public and private transit operations.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ford said a name for the combined organization will be announced “at a later date.”
The new company plans to maintain and grow its existing offices in Indiana, Utah and North Carolina.
Both DoubleMap and Ride Systems provide automatic vehicle location services to municipalities, universities, airports, hospitals and corporate fleets.
DoubleMap, founded in 2011 and based at 429 N. Pennsylvania St., was named Tech Startup of the Year at the 2014 Mira Awards and ranked as one of the Indianapolis area’s fastest-growing companies in 2015 and 2016. It reported revenue of $4.1 million in 2016, up from $2.7 million in 2014.
Employment at the firm rose from 10 in 2014 to about 40 when it merged with Ride Systems and is up to about 55 today.
At the time of the merger, Journey officials said they expected to bring in revenue of about $20 million in 2019.
Journey Holding CEO Justin Rees, who co-founded Ride Systems, will become CEO of the merged organization, replacing TransLoc CEO Doug Kaufman.
Ilya Rekhter, co-founder of DoubleMap, will become vice president of growth, and Peter SerVaas, founder and president of DoubleMap, will become vice president of innovation.
Together, the new company will have more than 200 employees and provide software services to nearly 1,200 cities, universities, corporate campuses and other enterprises.
“The combination of these transit technology companies will accelerate our efforts to help cities deliver more seamless, productive, and accessible transportation solutions to their citizens and visitors,” said Brett Wheatley, vice president Ford Mobility Marketing and Growth, in a written statement. “It also will be key to connecting customers with the other mobility solutions in our portfolio, such as Spin e-scooters and our GoRide Health service.”
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