ZF has increased its stake in the Friedrichshafen-based software company doubleSlash, acquired in 2016, from 40 to now 51 percent as of October 1, 2021. doubleSlash will continue to operate independently on the market. Both companies jointly develop software products and services for connected mobility.
“Over the past five years of successful collaboration, a strong basis of trust has been built up,” says ZF’s head of research & development Dr. Dirk Walliser, explaining the expansion of the commitment. “As a specialist for connected mobility with an excellent reputation among customers from the automotive industry, doubleSlash is an innovative and long-term partner in our software ecosystem.”
“Together with ZF as one of the leading global providers of technologies for the mobility of the future, we can continue our course of sustainable growth in the best possible way,” says Konrad Krafft, managing director at doubleSlash. “Our customers will benefit from even better coordinated software solutions and will continue to have us at their side as independent and reliable partners for connected mobility.”
One example of software solutions that are developed jointly are so-called ‘over-the-air updates’. Similar to a smartphone, the software functions of a vehicle can be kept up to date throughout the vehicle’s life. To do this, the vehicle no longer has to be taken to the workshop, but can receive the software via a mobile phone or WLAN connection, i.e. wirelessly or ‘over-the-air’. As a specialist for automotive security, doubleSlash contributes its know-how for the secure transmission of data, among other things.
In the past five years, doubleSlash’s sales have grown organically from 10 to 25 million euros and the number of employees has risen from 120 to 250. The company serves various well-known customers from the automotive industry, medical technology and other innovative sectors, which is why the software experts have also maintained locations in Munich and Stuttgart since 2011 and 2018 respectively. At the Friedrichshafen headquarters of the company, which was founded in 1999, a software innovation center is currently being built, which doubleSlash will move into at the end of the year.