By Joseph White
DETROIT The venture capital arm of automaker Stellantis said on Thursday it will invest about 100 million euros ($108.3 million) in automotive and battery technology startups and a mobility venture fund.
Stellantis Ventures, created last year with 300 million euros of initial capital, will put money in ten startups ranging from Nauto, which provides driver monitoring and risk-management technology to fleets, to battery technology startup Electra Vehicles, to Beweelsociety, an electric bike venture started within Stellantis, Adam Bazih, head of Stellantis Ventures, said in a videoconference.
Stellantis said it will offer Nauto technology on commercial fleet vehicles beginning this summer.
Stellantis Ventures will put an undisclosed amount into a mobility venture fund that Bazih said he could not name because it has not finalized regulatory paperwork.
The company is one of several established automakers that have set up venture capital arms to gain access to new technology and talent.
"They are high-risk bets," Bazih said, acknowledging volatility in capital markets. Venture capital investments can go wrong 70 to 80% of the time, he said. "The 20% .. .hopefully carries the rest."
Other startups getting funding from Stellantis in this round include:
6K, which makes materials used in batteries and 3D printing.
Envisics, augmented reality displays.
Geoflex, satellite positioning technology.
Lyten, EV battery technology including lithium sulfur batteries. Stellantis announced plans to invest in Lyten last month.
NetZero, a venture attempting to turn farm waste into "biochar" that can be mixed into soil, trapping carbon.
Viaduct, an artificial-intelligence platform designed to improve vehicle analytics for quality and maintenance.
Trails Offroad, which provides a digital library of offroad trails. Stellantis will offer the trail guides to Jeep customers starting this summer.
($1 = 0.9231 euro)
(Reporting by Joe White in Detroit; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
