Alliance Ventures focuses its research on the connected services, EV & Energy, new battery-technologies and new mobilities.
Besides, given the growing challenges in Circular Economy and Clean Tech, we are widening our research scope also to these domains including innovative battery recycling and alternative fuels companies which are key for Automotive Industry.
PowerShare, the developer of AI & Cloud based sustainable energy digital services intended to provide Energy & Battery AI technology, is closing series A+ round of financing. The round was led by Volvo Cars Tech Fund and Alliance Ventures participated.
This investment will enhance the global market expansion of its core businesses, such as Virtual Power Plant (VPP), Distributed Energy Resources Management System (DERMS), Battery AI Platform (BAP) and Energy AI Platform (EAP).
As a reminder, PowerShare is a digital energy and intelligent power management company with leading battery and energy AI technology at its core，and provides cloud-based energy management solutions, with over 100 proprietary AI algorithms in the field of battery performance, virtual power plant and smart charging technology.
One of PowerShare’s core offerings is the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) cloud solution, which can help foster more sustainable energy solutions.
This service-provider software platform connects and aggregates energy terminals such as industrial and residential energy storage, and charging stations, including clean energy terminals, such as solar panels and photovoltaic panels.
Based on AI, IoT (Internet of Things), and big data, VPP can carry out electricity trading to match energy production with energy demand from the grid. The system can overcome challenges caused by extreme weather and other external factors that disrupt green energy power supplies, compensating for the disadvantages of the traditional grid.
The Mobility House, the German provider of energy storage and electric vehicle charging products has successfully completed its C4 financing round of 48.5M€ in November.
This round was financed by historical investors only with a participation of the Alliance Ventures.
The fund will be used for its technology development and to expand their market position in the field of smart charging and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) in Europe, North America, and Asia.
Electric vehicles can stabilize the electric grid and temporarily store renewable energy. This promotes the expansion and integration of renewable energy. The company’s recently announced start of trading on the European Power Exchange EPEX SPOT SE signals another important step towards the intelligent integration of the mobility and electricity market.
Alliance Ventures welcomes two new interns since beginning of September: Nicolas MATHIEU and Capucine DOURY.
On her side, Capucine did two 6-month internships last year, one in a business law cabinet and another in an M&A firm.
Before joining the team, Nicolas had the opportunity to work in the public innovation ecosystem and in a digital services consulting company.
They are now very excited to join the team and bring their contribution to the Alliance.
Alliance Ventures’ 5 Innovation Territories
Alliance Ventures focuses its strategic investments over 5 Innovation Territories which have been closely tracked since 2018:
Our insights on the Autonomous Driving Innovation Ecosystem
We would like to share our vision and analysis of each Innovation Territory, focusing now on Autonomous Driving in which we categorized Manufacturers, Perception sensors and algorithms, Mobility Many-Core Chip suppliers, AI for decision making, Incidentology, Explainable AI for ADAS and more. The results presented below have been found from our internal data, monitored from 2018 to 2021.
While investments in Autonomous Driving startups have been stable in number of fundraising rounds, they have been especially strong over the first semester of 2020, reaching $5.5B, almost half the investments recorded between January 2018 and June 2021. Within this ecosystem, startups from the United States have focused 64% of those amounts with Waymo raising $2.25B. As we have seen in the New Mobility sector, in Autonomous Driving China has the largest median raised money per Autonomous Driving startup ($100M) far ahead of the US ($17M).
We observed an interesting trend in the distribution of the series over the period. Seed and Series A were the most common in 2018 (over 80% of Series in Autonomous Driving. However since 2019, investments amounts have been starting to focus more and more on larger rounds with Series C+ now having all the money focused on them ($1.5B out of $1.7B in the first semester of 2021).
When we take an even closer look within Autonomous Driving which sub-categories get the largest focus, we found out that in the top 3 Manufacturers (67% in amount raised), Perception sensors and algorithms (24%) and Many-core chip suppliers (9%) have raised the most money
Included in these amounts are some major success stories like our portfolio startup Weride that raised a 257M€ Series C in May 2021 including 30M€ from Alliance Ventures, reaching a post-money valuation of close to 2.8B€. The American Autonomous Driving manufacturer Waymo also raised an astonishing $2.2B in 2020.
Sources: Pitchbook, Crunchbase, Axios, Strictky VC Newsletter, Trucks Newsletter
Usable image for the article online:
PORTFOLIO NEWS
China-based autonomous driving startup WeRide announced in Summer 2021 that it will deepen joint development with Nissan of autonomous driving technology for the Chinese market. The announcement comes as the company raised $310 million to reach a valuation of $3.3 billion.
Led by founder Tony Han, the company is developing Level 4 autonomous standard, in which the vehicle can manage all aspects of driving under most circumstances without human intervention.
WeRide announced in September 2021 that it will begin developing self-driving vans for urban logistics services in collaboration with manufacturer JMC and delivery company ZTO Express.
“We’re seeing that the line between passenger vehicle and city logistics vehicle is disappearing,” Tony Han, CEO of WeRide, told CNBC on Thursday. “This is a self-driving vehicle. If you put a seat in it, it can serve as a robotaxi car. If you put a cabinet in it, it’s really a logistics car.”
This news make the headlines as WeRide reaches 10 million kilometers of autonomous driving on open roads, of which the mileage of fully unmanned driving exceeded 2.5 million kilometers. WeRide was able to achieve this milestone by continuously testing and operating its self-driving fleets. Over the previous four years, the company has grown its fleet to over 300 vehicles in China and the United States.
ABOUT WERIDE
Founded in 2017 by Tony Han together with a group of talented individuals, WeRide.ai has emerged as the leading autonomous driving company aiming to achieve large-scale, commercial deployment of fully L4 autonomous vehicles for the public. WeRdi.ai is committed to using artificial intelligence to deliver fully autonomous vehicles that operate without human intervention to perceive the environment and deliver a safe, robust, and convenient Mobility as a Service. WeRide.ai is a privately held company headquartered in Guangzhou, with offices in Sunnyvale, Beijing and Anqing. For more information, visit www.weride.ai.
ABOUT RENAULT-NISSAN-MITSUBISHI
Groupe Renault, Nissan Motor Company and Mitsubishi Motors represent the world’s largest automotive alliance. It is the longest-lasting and most productive cross-cultural partnership in the auto industry, whose member companies are focused on collaboration and maximizing synergies to boost competitiveness. This strategic alliance is among the industry leaders in zero-emission vehicles and is developing the latest advanced technologies, with plans to offer autonomous drive, connectivity features and services on a wide range of affordable vehicles.
ABOUT ALLIANCE VENTURES
Alliance Ventures is the strategic venture capital fund of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, the world’s largest automotive alliance. The fund, launched in 2018 and co-located in Amsterdam, Paris and the Silicon-Valley, plans to invest to support open innovation. Alliance Ventures targets technology and business model innovation in new mobility, autonomous driving, connected services, EV & energy and enterprise 2.0. By drawing on expertise and business opportunities from across the world’s largest automotive alliance, the fund makes strategic investments at all start-up stages and incubates new automotive entrepreneurs at the cutting edge of next-generation systems for the automotive industry.
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi was at the biggest start-up event in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Ecomotion is a dynamic community with 580 start-ups and 5,000 members in the Smart Transportation sector.
Our teams, Alliance Ventures & Alliance Open Innovation Lab, participated to one keynote and two panel sessions.
Matthieu de Chanville, Director of Alliance Ventures in charge of Business Partners & Fund of Funds, made presentations about “The Future of investing in Mobility” and “Investors looking to invest”.
“In our industry, of autonomous technologies and mobility services, Israel is the third most important place after the US and China, for technologies to build the car of the future. We have to be here.”, said Matthieu de Chanville
Watch Matthieu De Chanville’s keynote here.
Antoine Basseville, Director of Alliance Tel Aviv Open Innovation Lab, participated to a panel session named “How Mice can dance with an Elephant”, to debate on how corporates and startups can work together without harming each other.
Watch the full session here.
Eventually, Gareth Dunsmore, Electric vehicle Director, Nissan Europe, participated to a panel session which subject was “From oil to electrons”.
Watch the full session here.
PRESS RELEASE – Paris/Irvine, November 13, 2018
Enevate’s silicon-dominant Li-ion technology features extreme fast-charging capabilities with high energy density and improved safety.
Alliance Ventures, the strategic venture capital arm of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, has announced today that it has invested in the latest round of funding in Enevate Corporation, an advanced lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology company based in Irvine, California. This marks the latest technology investment by Alliance Ventures, launched earlier this year to support start-ups, early-stage development, and entrepreneurs at the cutting edge of next-generation systems for the automotive industry.
Francois Dossa, Alliance Global Vice President, Ventures and Open Innovation, said: “We are pleased to participate in Enevate’s latest funding round. This strategic investment allows us to support the development of Enevate proprietary cutting edge electrode technology. Continued development in this critical field will help us accelerate the electrification of our vehicles.”
The investment reflects the capability of Enevate in breakthrough Li-ion batteries capable of extreme fast charging with high energy density and safety. Enevate’s technology, which could enable electric vehicles (EVs) to charge in the same time as refueling conventional cars, is seen as a leader in its field.
“We share the common goal of making electric vehicles easier to use and adopt in mass markets,” says Enevate President and CEO Robert A. Rango. “We look forward to our strategic partnership with Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, as they are a global leader in electric vehicles and they understand the market needs of EV consumers worldwide.”
Enevate’s HD-Energy® Technology for EVs features five-minute fast charging with high energy density and long driving range, with the added capability of low-temperature operation in cold climates, low cost, and safety benefits. This short charging time is superior to any other Li-ion technology available today to meet automotive EV requirements for energy density, range, safety, and cost.
Enevate licenses its silicon-dominant HD-Energy Technology to battery and EV automotive manufacturers and suppliers worldwide to quickly achieve production volume and drive adoption of next-generation features that take EVs to the next level.
ABOUT ENEVATE
Enevate Corporation, with global headquarters in California, USA, develops and licenses advanced silicon-dominant Li-ion battery technology that revolutionizes the electric vehicle (EV) market by breaking down barriers to EV adoption. Enevate’s pioneering work on silicon-dominant anodes and cells has resulted in its breakthrough HD-Energy® Technology featuring extreme fast charging with uncompromised high energy density, excellent low-temperature operation for cold climates, low cost, and safety advantages over conventional graphite Li-ion batteries.
Investors include Mission Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Tsing Capital, Infinite Potential Technologies, Presidio Ventures – a Sumitomo Corporation company, CEC Capital, Samsung, Lenovo, LG Chem, and the Alliance (Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi). Enevate, the Enevate logo, HD-Energy, and eBoost are registered trademarks of the Enevate Corporation. To learn more about, or to license, Enevate’s industry-defining battery technology, visit www.enevate.com.
ABOUT RENAULT-NISSAN-MITSUBISHI
Groupe Renault, Nissan Motor Company and Mitsubishi Motors represent the world’s largest automotive alliance. It is the longest-lasting and most productive cross-cultural partnership in the auto industry. Together, the partners sold more than 10.6 million vehicles in nearly 200 countries in 2017. The member companies are focused on collaboration and maximizing synergies to boost competitiveness. They have strategic collaborations with other automotive groups, including Germany’s Daimler and China’s Dongfeng. This strategic alliance is the industry leader in zero-emission vehicles and is developing the latest advanced technologies, with plans to offer autonomous drive, connectivity features and services on a wide range of affordable vehicles.
www.alliance-2022.com
www.media.renault.com
www.nissan-newsroom.com
www.mitsubishi-motors.com/en/newsrelease/
TORONTO, Ontario, Canada – INFINITI LAB, in partnership with Multiplicity, returns to Toronto this May with applications opening today, Thursday, April 26, 2018. For the first time, LAB participants will have the opportunity to pitch to the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi venture capital fund, Alliance Ventures.
INFINITI LAB Toronto will run for the second time after last year’s successful accelerator program, gaining the support of local government and the Ontario Centre of Excellence.
“INFINITI has an ambitious vision, recognizing the agile nature and benefits startups can bring to our organization. Over the past three years we have worked with exceptional startups to develop pilots and partnerships that could transform our business. 2018 marks an exciting time as we strengthen our commitment and support for entrepreneurs worldwide,” Roland Krueger, Chairman and Global President of INFINITI
The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance Ventures capital fund, of up to $1 billion USD, was launched to target new innovation for the Alliance.
“Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi launched Alliance Ventures earlier this year, targeting investments in technology and business model innovation in vehicle electrification, autonomous systems, car connectivity and new mobility services. We’re excited to be working together with INFINITI LAB to identify new investment opportunities. Toronto is one of the leading startup ecosystems globally, and we anticipate that members of the upcoming LAB programs will be a fit with our mission to invest in innovative startups,” comments Francois Dossa, Head of Alliance Ventures.
PRESS RELEASE – Paris/Yokohama/Tokyo, October 11, 2018
Alliance Ventures, the corporate venture capital fund of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, the world’s largest automotive group by unit sales, today announced that it led a $5 million Series A investment in Coord, the US mobility data platform.
The latest investment by Alliance Ventures is also supported by additional funding from Trucks, Urban.Us, DB Ventures and Joshua Schachter. They join Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs, a previous investor in Coord.
“We are pleased to be adding Coord to our investment portfolio,” said Francois Dossa, Alliance Global Vice President, Ventures and Open Innovation. “This promising and fast-growing business fits exactly with our goal to support technology start-ups and business entrepreneurs focused on next-generation mobility services.”
Initially focused on reaching developers with their robust suite of APIs, Coord intend to use this new financing to scale geographic coverage and build a comprehensive solution to enable enterprise customers to optimize their use of transportation infrastructure such as roads, curbs and parking lots.
“We’re excited to support Coord in their mission to make cities more livable by enabling seamless mobility for everyone,” said Ryan Armbrust, Partner at Alliance Ventures. “Coord is building vital digital infrastructure that not only helps existing transportation modes operate more efficiently, but also enables rapid experimentation with new modes like scooter-share and autonomous vehicles.”
“We are grateful to have the support of a diverse group of investors who see the opportunity to transform the mobility market,” said Stephen Smyth, CEO of Coord. “Alliance Ventures and others bring expertise across the transportation and urban technology sectors that will enable us to accelerate the adoption of mobility solutions in cities throughout North America.”
ABOUT RENAULT-NISSAN-MITSUBISHI
Groupe Renault, Nissan Motor Company and Mitsubishi Motors represent the world’s largest automotive alliance. It is the longest-lasting and most productive cross-cultural partnership in the auto industry. Together, the partners sold more than 10.6 million vehicles in nearly 200 countries in 2017. The member companies are focused on collaboration and maximizing synergies to boost competitiveness. They have strategic collaborations with other automotive groups, including Germany’s Daimler and China’s Dongfeng. This strategic alliance is the industry leader in zero-emission vehicles and is developing the latest advanced technologies, with plans to offer autonomous drive, connectivity features and services on a wide range of affordable vehicles.
www.alliance-2022.com
www.media.renault.com
www.nissan-newsroom.com
www.mitsubishi-motors.com/en/newsrelease/
