It's raining acquisitions! Enschede-based startup TriboForm has been acquired by Swiss software company AutoForm.
Through the sale TriboForm aims to facilitate a fast marketing of its car industry software, designed for the simulation of friction, lubrication and wear.
"Our collaboration with AutoForm means we can introduce our software to main players in the car industry and grow as an organisation”, said Jan Harmen Wiebenga, founder of TriboForm.
The startup's software predicts tribological behaviour, which is an area of mechanical engineering that studies the behaviour of contact surfaces between materials.
Car manufacturers may for example use the software for the development of new car parts, such as bonnets and doors. TriboForm calculates the probability of fractures and corrugation of steel or aluminium.
Volvo
Saving car companies time and money, the startup recently attracted Volvo, Skoda and Mercedes-Benz as launching customers.
TriboForm was founded in 2013 by Jan Harmen Wiebenga and Johan Hol during their doctoral research at the Materials Innovation Institute and the University of Twente. The company now consists of seven people and is based at Kennispark Twente in Enschede.
Image credit: Flickr, Alias 0591