Manufacturing Giant ZF Partners With Israeli Startups Cognata, OptimalPlus

German car parts manufacturing company ZF Friedrichshafen AG has partnered with Israeli startups Cognata Ltd. and Optimal Plus Ltd., the former announced Tuesday. The financial terms of the collaborations were not disclosed.

ZF’s collaboration with Cognata is in the realm of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), namely electronic systems that help the driver while driving or during parking, raw data management and transformation. The two companies will work together on managing data received from advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). ZF will be collaborating with OptimalPlus to jointly develop software to improve productivity and efficiency in manufacturing plants. Cognata, founded in 2016 and based in central Israel, develops a system capable of simulating various situations a self-driving car may encounter within a specific city. The system is meant to reduce the time and resources required for testing the vehicles in real-life situations. The company raised $23.5 million to date.

Founded in 2005 and based in the central Israeli town of Holon, Optimalplus develops big data analytics software. The company employs some 210 people and has raised $79.5 million to date.