Chipmaker ARM acquired UK imaging firm Apical for $350 million in cash to support its growth in new markets, including connected vehicles, robotics, smart cities and the Internet of Things (IoT).

In addition, the UK firm will extend ARM’s portfolio in existing markets, such as smartphones and cameras, it said.

According to the chipmaker, Apical’s imaging products are used in more than 1.5 billion smartphones and 300 million other devices including IP cameras, digital stills cameras and tablets.

Simon Segars (pictured) CEO of ARM, said the partnership will solve the technical challenges of next generation products such as driverless cars and sophisticated security systems.

“These solutions rely on the creation of dedicated image computing solutions and Apical’s technologies will play a crucial role in their delivery,” he said.

The UK firm’s technology allows next generation devices to understand and act on information culled from their immediate environment.

Apical was founded in 2002 and employs around 100 people.

Michael Tusch, CEO and founder at Apical, said his firm’s technologies will advance as part of ARM, “driving value for its partners as they push deeper into markets where visual computing will deliver a transformation in device capabilities and the way humans interact with machines.”

Earlier this year, Segars told Mobile World Live that a major barrier for “truly autonomous cars” will be the amount of computing power needed in order to communicate with other cars and the infrastructure around it.

He said Arm predicts the computing power in a car will go up by a factor of 100 in the next five years.

He also shared his thoughts on how 5G could fuel the Internet of Things.