- BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Bosch, Ford and Toyota partner with SMMT for new Future Mobility Challenge to drive future automotive innovation.
- From connected cars to smart city solutions, new initiative seeks potential collaborations, investments or partnerships between innovative start-ups and the automotive industry.
- Best solutions will benefit from route to market, incubation, acceleration, piloting, funding or acquisition opportunities.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Ltd (SMMT) today announces the Future Mobility Challenge, a major new initiative that will spawn new partnerships, investments and acquisitions between the world’s leading automotive brands and innovative technology start-ups and SMEs.
Five of the world’s biggest automotive brands, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Bosch, Ford and Toyota, have partnered with SMMT to challenge ambitious SMEs and start-ups to devise innovative solutions to seven key mobility challenges. Technology innovators are encouraged to submit leading-edge ideas that address these opportunities. Those with the best solutions will be invited to pitch at the Future Mobility Challenge event in October and, if successful, will be able to negotiate a range of partnership propositions, from mentoring, ideas incubation and investment, to piloting, routes to market or acquisition.
Start-ups and SMEs are invited to provide solutions to one or more of the following innovation opportunities:
1. Harnessing the potential of mobility data – creating customer value through, for example, seamless payments at fuel forecourts and chargepoints or integrated insurance services.
2. Intelligent solutions for intelligent fleets – innovative solutions that go beyond existing telematics offerings, potentially helping operators to optimise fleets, reduce their environmental footprint or support drivers’ wellbeing.
3. Urban mobility solutions for future cities – smart use of data to help tackle challenges such as congestion, parking and EV charging infrastructure constraints, or perhaps deliver integrated propositions to promote active mobility.
4. Innovative shared and on-demand mobility models – solutions to identify and deliver new, flexible models of car ownership or sharing via a single platform to bring mobility to more people.
5. Creating new and superior customer experiences in the age of hyper convenience – perhaps using augmented or virtual reality and remote services or blockchain solutions to deliver efficient business processes and premium and lifestyle customer propositions.
6. New connected car services – unique solutions to unlock greater potential from connectivity such as location services, journey management or remote services including, for example, predictive maintenance.
7. Future vehicle technologies – new solutions for everything from artificial intelligence and machine learning, to automated driving, glass and display technologies, audio, and battery management.
Leading technology bodies and membership organisations are also supporting the Future Mobility Challenge, encouraging start-ups and technology innovators to participate. These include the Transport Systems and Digital Catapults, Grant Thornton, Level39, Plexal and Tech London Advocates, among others.
To participate, SMEs and start-ups are encouraged to submit their interest to pitch solutions addressing one or more of the challenges by visiting http://www.smmt.co.uk/events/future-mobility-challenge/
The deadline for applications is 30 June, 2018 and around 50 innovators will then be shortlisted and invited to pitch in closed sessions at the Future Mobility Challenge event at Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 17 October 2018.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said,
The Future Mobility Challenge provides the perfect opportunity for automotive industry leaders and innovative technology SMEs to collaborate. From data analytics and blockchain to the Internet of Things and health and wellbeing, we’re looking for innovators across the technology community to help automotive explore new horizons, appealing to the continuously changing demands of consumers. We are delighted to have on board such strong automotive brands and partners and are looking forward to what will be, I am sure, intense competition from innovative SMEs and start-ups.
David Skipp, Director of Partnerships & Innovation, Ford Smart Mobility, Europe, said,
Collaboration with innovators and start-ups is at the heart of how we develop new mobility solutions for urban dwellers, commerce and cities. We look forward to forging new relationships with the tech community and we are excited to see the SMMT and other industry players meeting right here at the doorstep of our Innovation Office, at the Here East campus in London.
Lars Klawitter, Executive Director, InMotion Ventures & Jaguar Land Rover, said,
We are excited to be involved in the new Future Mobility Challenge, which is providing an industry platform to see and collectively generate truly innovative mobility tech solutions. It’s a fantastic opportunity for SMEs and start-ups to showcase their solutions and allows Jaguar Land Rover and other industry partners access for collaboration, we are very much looking forward to seeing the ideas come in.
Arun Srinivasan, Executive Vice President and Head of Mobility Solutions, Bosch UK, said,
The world of mobility is changing rapidly. New technologies offer opportunities to create transport services that can help increase safety, reduce traffic congestion, make better use of assets and create healthier, more liveable city environments. Connecting with UK start-ups is an important way for us to continue to drive the entrepreneurial spirit that was instilled by our founder Robert Bosch. We realise not only the value that it can bring to these start-ups by supporting with our breadth of knowledge and global resources but we can also learn from these small, nimble product technology creators ourselves, adopting the “start-up mentality” into our own corporate culture.
For more information, full details of each of the challenges, and to register your interest to pitch, visit: http://www.smmt.co.uk/events/future-mobility-challenge/
The Future Mobility Challenge event will take place on Wednesday, 17 October 2018 at Plexal Innovation Centre, Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London.
