Stellantis Hosts Third Annual Stellantis Venture Awards to Honor Seven Technology Startups

Automakers these days are going way beyond companies that just make cars and SUVs. Aside from the shift to more electrified options, many brands are looking into fields of technology past the cockpit. Sure, making the tech inside a car more powerful for the driver behind the wheel is great, and still should be the main focus, but robotics and AI are slowly becoming the norm, and automakers are looking into how to get their hands in these pockets, too. The easiest way to do that is to invest in a startup already working on something that the automaker has an interest in developing. With that in mind, Stellantis N.V. held its third annual Stellantis Venture Awards to honor seven top-performing technology startups that the automotive group is working with.

There are three main categories the 2024 Stellantis Venture Awards cover: CARE, TECH, and VALUE.

CARE

This category highlights startups that not only develop technology to better serve consumers but also the environment. The two winners demonstrate exactly that. Glanceable, a company in France, has developed an AI-powered solution that automatically centralizes, analyzes, and acts on consumer feedback via an intuitive interface and proprietary AI to create business plans based on consumer needs. A United States-based company, Niron Magnetics, is working to revolutionize the design of new electric motors and generators by manufacturing permanent magnets based on iron nitride, free of rare earth and other critical materials, on a large scale.

TECH

The auto market today is shifting towards electrified mobile solutions such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), and even introducing more hydrogen fuel cell vehicle concepts. On the other end of the spectrum, autonomous self-driving technology and software-defined vehicles (SDVs) are the next step in the industry. This category highlights startups developing technology that can meet these new goals.

Another United States-based company, Epitone, has developed automotive augmented reality with its LiveWindow system that enhances safety behind the wheel by projecting navigation and other crucial information onto the windshield, like a heads-up display, that can also operate on various levels of autonomous driving. Voltbras, based in Brazil, is working to better electric-vehicle charging by providing companies with management software for monitoring and managing the operation of electric-vehicle chargers in the network. Ample, also in the United States, is making it easier for automakers to swap-in and swap-out BEV batteries with a modular-designed drop-in battery-swapping system that can deliver energy to multiple vehicle platforms without the need to reengineer the vehicle platforms of today. A huge plus for automakers working on BEVs.

VALUE

What says “value” better than providing consumers with technology that can improve their daily lives? Wheel.me in Norway is a robotics and IoT company developing indoor autonomous mobility solutions by transforming existing infrastructure into self-driving robots that can enhance a business’s efficiency and productivity via automation. We’re seeing delivery robots for business-to-business and business-to-consumer interaction currently on the rise, and Wheel.me is a prime example of this. Emotiva in Italy is working on AI-powered technology that can better tailor products and services for consumers by deciphering human attention and emotions and analyzing their reactions to products and services being advertised.

Like we said, automakers are going beyond just the world of automobiles. Ultimately, a lot of the technology discussed here will make its way into automobiles to enhance the driver experience. Until then, startups like the above are developing solutions on a large scale that automakers can later simplify and shrink down to fit in the brain of a future car. Want to keep up with all the investments and startups Stellantis is working with? Follow along with us on Aventura Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram social media.

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