130 joint projects between startups and corporations initiated but still hungry: STARTUP AUTOBAHN launches Program 4

• Europe’s largest innovation platform starts its fourth round with 31 young tech companies from 4 continents and 13 countries
• STARTUP AUTOBAHN facilitates joint projects between startups and corporations and offers access to VC’s, mentors, hardware lab, expertise, tools and office space
• Wide range of projects around vehicle tech (CASE), vehicle services (fintech / insurtech), enterprise processes (HR / retail), energy, future of production and supply chain

Stuttgart, Germany. Europe’s largest innovation platform – STARTUP AUTOBAHN – kicks-off its fourth round. After screening hundreds of young tech companies 31 startups were accepted into Program 4 starting on 22 March.

STARTUP AUTOBAHN is about facilitating joint projects between young tech companies and established corporations

In the current batch, 31 young tech companies – with the combined strength of now 16 corporate partners – will work on joint projects. Plug and Play – as the moderator of the program started the sourcing for these startups in October 2017 and organized hundreds of meetings between startups and the corporate partners of STARTUP AUTOBAHN. This gave the business units the chance to truly understand the startups technologies and to evaluate whether there is a strategic fit. Thanks to this process the selected 31 startups can expect one or more business units who strongly consider carrying out a pilot project.

On Expo Day taking place in July 2018 the partners and network of STARTUP AUTOBAHN will hear about many more joint projects happened thanks to the open innovation platform. So far, a record number 130 projects were initiated in just 18 months and many long-term projects resulted out of it.

German young tech companies already know that STARTUP AUTOBAHN is the best way to get projects with the participating corporations started. In Program 4 only one third of the participating startups are based in Germany and one third comes even from outside of Europe: USA (5x), Israel (3x), Canada (1x), Japan (1x) and Australia (1x). The European startups were sourced in countries such as: Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, France, Netherlands, Portugal and the UK.

The following young tech companies have been offered the opportunity to validate and pilot their technologies on a neutral platform, moderated by Plug and Play within a three-month program:

Arculus, Arkite, Aroma  Bit, Braincities, CARFIT, Chargetrip, Codepan, COMPREDICT, Context360, Aelectra, Evertracker, Fleetonomy, Imagine, IOTA, MakeMyDay, Moduu,  NEURO Controls, OTTO Motors, PACE, Riddle & Code, ROBORACE, Sensefinity, Sentiance, Shoof Technologies, Silentium, Smartransfer, South8Technologies, Streamr, Third Space Auto, WORKERBASE and WorkFusion.

The focus of joint projects includes e-mobility, human-machine interface, supply chain logistics as well related themes in field of vehicle tech (CASE), vehicle services (fintech/insurtech), enterprise processes (HR/Retail), energy, future of production and industry 4.0.

Neutral innovation platform – the best way for startups to get in business with our corporate partners

STARTUP AUTOBAHN was founded by Daimler, Plug and Play, University of Stuttgart, and ARENA2036. New founding anchor partners are Hewlett Packard Enterprise, DXC Technology, BASF, Porsche, ZF Friedrichshafen, Webasto and Deutsche Post DHL Group. Murata, HELLA, BENTELER, Linde Group, Jardine Matheson Limited, Wieland Ventures, PostNL and AGC Glass Europe contribute as ecosystem partners.

Partners to the innovation platform. STARTUP AUTOBAHN is open for further corporate partners as well believing in open doors, disruptive thinking, and the sharing of ideas, technology, and connections to help startups and corporates thrive faster.

Perfect working conditions tailored to startups’ needs

The entrepreneurs in the fourth program are offered the ideal working environment. In the space of the ARENA2036 technology laboratory on the University of Stuttgart campus startups are able to use co – working space and have moderated access to high- tech hardware worth millions of euros. The ideal working conditions to help execute successful pilot projects and to implement and test their technologies with one or several industry partners within the three-month program.

About STARTUP AUTOBAHN

STARTUP AUTOBAHN is the ultimate innovation platform that unites global young tech companies with the unrivalled tech expertise of Silicon Valley and the best of German engineering. We are a neutral innovation platform moderating an in-depth and curated collaboration between our partners from the industry and young tech companies also considering and supporting key success factors like cultural mindset change within legacy corporations. Our network of investment firms and mentors further helps the growth of tech companies. Our home is Stuttgart – the birthplace of the automobile, one of the leading IP regions of the world, and a hub of business, engineering, and groundbreaking inventions. A total of 74 startups graduated from the innovation platform with more than 130 pilot projects so far.