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Opinion: Radical rethink of automotive R&D investment required in 2020

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Continued disruption, restructuring and re-shaping of the automotive industry will be required to make increasing levels of R&D affordable whilst simultaneously representing a major growth opportunity in the year ahead, according to engineering consultancy Horiba Mira.

The proliferation of electrification and connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technologies will continue to be amongst the top automotive trends in 2020 which will continue to push up the already soaring costs of research and development.

Indeed, latest figures show European auto manufacturers spent a record £33.3 billion on R&D – 35 per cent more than the £24.6 billion spent in 2014/15. [Read more…] about Opinion: Radical rethink of automotive R&D investment required in 2020

JTEKT partners with Plug and Play to invest in startups

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Automotive components and systems maker JTEKT is partnering with Plug and Play, an innovation platform, to work on supporting and nurturing start-ups together.

The two companies have signed a partnership agreement aimed at technological innovation and new business creation in new areas. [Read more…] about JTEKT partners with Plug and Play to invest in startups

Robert Bosch Venture Capital leads growth funding round in MegaRobo

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Robert Bosch Venture Capital, the corporate venture capital company of the Bosch Group, is leading a growth financing round in MegaRobo. 

The Chinese high-tech robotic company with over 100 employees is headquartered in Beijing and integrates cutting-edge machine vision and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide modular automation solutions for lab automation, smart retail and light industrial sectors.

“MegaRobo’s technology increases efficiency in production automation. Already today, robots from MegaRobo are used for special applications in the end-of-line production of household appliances at Bosch”, says RBVC managing director Dr Ingo Ramesohl.

[Read more…] about Robert Bosch Venture Capital leads growth funding round in MegaRobo

BMW establishes its ‘Startup Garage’ to gain early access to pioneering innovations

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The BMW Startup Garage – part of the company’s Research, New Technologies and Innovations unit – has been tracking down the most innovative startups in the business for four years now, allowing the BMW Group to tap into their potential quickly and directly.

So far, more than 50 up-and-coming technology companies have completed its startup programme.

The BMW Startup Garage talks with over 1,500 startups from all over the world every year.

[Read more…] about BMW establishes its ‘Startup Garage’ to gain early access to pioneering innovations

Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi partner with Plug and Play China

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Alliance Ventures, the venture capital fund that invests in technology start-ups for Groupe Renault, Nissan Motor Company and Mitsubishi Motors, is partnering with Plug and Play China, part of the global innovation platform.

“China is leading innovation in the automotive industry,” said Francois Dossa, Alliance Global Vice President, Ventures and Open Innovation; Chairman of Alliance Ventures.

“By harnessing the expertise of Plug and Play China, we can gain access to start-ups and technologies that will transform the mobility experience.”

[Read more…] about Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi partner with Plug and Play China

Hitachi establishes venture capital fund for start-up partners

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On 1 June, Hitachi is to establish a new corporate venture capital (CVC) fund, Hitachi Ventures Fund, and unit, Hitachi Ventures GmbH (HVG), whose responsibility will be to identify and acquire equity interests in fast-growing innovative start-ups globally.

HVG will hire top external talents with experience and capability on CVC activities to invest to and collaborate with start-ups globally.

Stefan Gabriel, former president of 3M New Ventures, is to be CEO of HVG. The unit will start life with $150M.

[Read more…] about Hitachi establishes venture capital fund for start-up partners