Molex Investment in Excelfore Expands Scope of In-Vehicle Connected Platforms

• Molex secures 20 percent ownership in innovative Silicon Valley company
• Excelfore specializes in middleware and cloud solutions for intelligent automobiles
• Integrated solution for Tier One manufacturers to be demonstrated at CES 2017

LISLE, IL – January 3, 2017– Molex, a global manufacturer of complete interconnect solutions, announced today a strategic global collaboration and investment in Excelfore Corporation, an innovative Silicon Valley provider of cloud platform and connectivity applications for intelligent transportation.  Molex’s investment in a Series A round of funding secured a 20 percent minority ownership of Excelfore.

Headquartered in Fremont, CA with offices in China, Germany, India, and Japan, Excelfore specializes in middleware solutions for smart mobility networks that support next-generation smart, autonomous and learning vehicles, fleets and associated infrastructure.  Excelfore automotive software products enable communication between automotive components and cloud-based servers, automotive fleet monitoring, and provision of Firmware Over the Air (FOTA) and Software Over the Air (SOTA) updates.

The strategic investment in Excelfore expands the Molex portfolio of I/O interconnect and module solutions serving a range of powertrain, networking, media module and lighting applications for the automotive and connected vehicle sector.  The collaboration will support development of new end-to-end vehicle networking solutions.

“Smart mobility starts with innovative people and solutions to make intelligent vehicle designs a reality,” according to Bill Fitzer, vice president and general manager of the Molex Connected Mobility Solutions Business Unit.  “Together, Molex and Excelfore will provide complete intelligent vehicle systems integrating the hardware, software, and technical services needed to advance adoption of next-generation connected platforms in today’s vehicles.”

In-vehicle network technologies are a top priority for leading automotive manufacturers and consumers who value a connected driving experience.  Currently, only about one in five vehicles shipped is equipped with connectivity features.  By 2020, 75 percent of cars will be connected to the Internet, according to TrendForce market research.

Automotive OEMs need a total systems approach to connectivity as they integrate new features and capabilities into vehicles.  In order to meet this demand, Molex and Excelfore have developed a complete vehicle end-to-end connectivity solution with FOTA/SOTA, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, OTA and edge-sensor eCAM capabilities.  The new integrated software and hardware solutions will be showcased at an invitation-only demonstration event hosted by Excelfore and Molex during the Consumer Electronics Show, January 5 – 8, 2017.  For more information, please visit www.excelfore.com/ces2017/.

“By empowering seamless end-to-end solutions—taking into account digital and power interconnects, in-vehicle and cloud networking, and the mechanisms for rolling out updates to vehicles—the collaboration with Molex strengthens the value we can bring to automotive suppliers,” said Shrikant Acharya, chief technology officer at Excelfore.

For more information about Excelfore please visit www.excelfore.com or www.molex.com.

About Excelfore:

Excelfore Corporation, located in Silicon Valley, enables smart mobility networks with a scalable and secure unified middleware framework. Excelfore products include the eAVB™ protocol stack for in-vehicle Ethernet time-sensitive networking, as well as cloud-to-vehicle eSync™ software update management, eDiagnostics™ smart diagnostics, and eMatics™ fleet prognostics and fleet learning www.excelfore.com.

Excelfore is registered trademark of Excelfore Corporation.

About Molex:

Molex brings together innovation and technology to deliver electronic solutions to customers worldwide. With a presence in more than 40 countries, Molex offers a full suite of solutions and services for many markets, including data communications, consumer electronics, industrial, automotive, commercial vehicle and medical. For more information, please visit www.molex.com.

Molex is a registered trademark of Molex, LLC in the United States of America and may be registered in other jurisdictions.

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FOR MOLEX EDITORIAL INFORMATION
Christa Carroll
Senior Vice President
Outlook Marketing Services
630.408.9164
Christa@outlookmarketingsrv.com

FOR EXCELFORE EDITORIAL INFORMATION
John Reed
Director of Public Relations
Elevator Communications
415.846.4862
jreed@elevatorpr.com