WANdisco signs $7.1m follow-on deal with existing client

Data technology company WANdisco has signed a follow-on agreement worth $7.1m with a large, unnamed European automotive components supplier, it announced on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded firm said the client initially entered a commit-to-consume contract valued at at least $5m over five years on 4 July.

Terms were originally signed to replicate automobile sensor data to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud.

However, initial data to be transferred exceeded the volume of data agreed in the original contract, and as a result, WANdisco had entered into the follow-on contract with the terms of the contract providing that 50% of the aggregated $12.1m would be paid in advance.

The client was expecting to see its data needs grow further over the lifetime of the contract, as an increasing number of vehicles incorporated their sensors from which data was collected, representing a “potentially significant” expansion opportunity for WANdisco.

As it is a commit-to-consume contract, revenue would be recognised as the client moved its data.

The increased necessity for WANdisco's services was linked to the client entering a “major collaboration” with an undisclosed multinational vehicle manufacturer, to provide the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) domain controller, sensors and software for parking and manoeuvring.

An ADAS domain controller enables vehicles equipped with ADAS to process data from different sensors including cameras and radars.

WANdisco said that meant that larger volumes of data were being collected from the different sensors, which the client could process and derive value from, by using its solutions.

“We are pleased to announce this follow-on deal with a key client in an exciting target market, reaffirming the substantial opportunity for WANdisco in this key vertical,” said co-founder and chief executive officer David Richards.

“Internet-of-things (IoT) data is playing a critical role in the transformation of technologies such as ADAS.”

Richards said the “powerful systems” needed to process vast amounts of data and execute instructions, using an array of sensors continually and successfully.

“These evolving and growing data needs both in automotive and across multiple sectors give us confidence in the further significant opportunities for our business as we look to build and execute on a strong pipeline of future deals.”

At 1344 BST, shares in WANdisco were up 1.13% at 513.75p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.