Hitachi Automotive Systems announced this week a partnership for collaborating with Plug and Play, which aims at strengthening connections with start-ups in the mobility space, including autonomous driving and connected cars, and accelerate its innovation capabilities.
Plug and Play has developed its ecosystem of start-ups and entrepreneurs, and runs accelerator programs across a range of industries including mobility, IoT, supply chain and logistics, and smart cities.
Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company is engaged in the development, manufacture, sales and services of automotive components, transportation related components, industrial machines and systems, and offers a wide range of automotive systems including powertrain systems, chassis systems and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Plug and Play has built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress. Since inception in 2006, their programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 20 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond.
With over 10,000 startups and 280 official corporate partners, Plug and Play created a startup ecosystem in many industries. They provide active investments with about 200 Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 700 networking events per year. Companies in their community have raised over US$7 billion in funding, with portfolio exits, including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club and PayPal.
“We are very excited about this collaboration. As a global automotive system integrator and key component supplier, we supply a range of technologies that are enabling a shift towards autonomous driving and electrification, such as on-board controllers, sensor systems, high power motors, high efficiency invertors, and high precision sensors,” said Hitachi Automotive Systems’ chief technology officer, Dr. Kimiya Yamaashi. “Our aim is to contribute to a sustainable mobility society by enhancing our capabilities through business tie-ups with unique start-ups that possess various technologies and insights. We believe this collaboration with Plug and Play will help to strengthen these connections and bring new opportunities for co-development.”
“We’re excited to welcome Hitachi Automotive Systems to our ecosystem. Working with them will help us drive forward innovation in the mobility area,” said Sobhan Khani, VP of Plug and Play’s Mobility programs.
