Stoneridge Inc. has announced an investment in a fund managed by Autotech Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on ground transportation technology located in Menlo Park, California. The $10 million total investment, which will be contributed over the expected 10-year life of the fund, is expected to provide the company with increased visibility to early-stage companies.
Laurent Borne, chief technology officer for Stoneridge, commented, “We are excited to announce our partnership with Autotech and our investment in their next fund. We believe that a presence in Silicon Valley will help us identify and invest in opportunities that will drive the future of ground transportation. We look forward to working with the Autotech team and their current and future portfolio companies to accelerate our innovation pipeline, build on our existing portfolio and continue to refine our product roadmap to align with industry megatrends.”
Stoneridge’s portfolio of smart products focuses on the megatrends in the transportation industry including intelligence, safety and security, emissions and fuel efficiency.
In addition to potential financial returns, Autotech provides corporate investors with access to broad deal flow, co-investment opportunities in the fund’s startups and related consultation on startup relationships and early-stage technology opportunities.
Autotech’s current portfolio includes investments in Deepscale, a provider of sensor fusion perception solutions for autonomous vehicles, Metawave, a provider of metamaterial antennas for high-precision, long-range ADAS and autonomous vehicle radar, XNOR.AI, a provider of fast, accurate, low-power and low-memory AI algorithms for edge devices and Lyft, an online peer-to-peer ridesharing marketplace.
Jon DeGaynor, president and CEO of Stoneridge, added, “We will utilize this relationship to drive organic development activities as well as inorganic opportunities for the company. We expect this investment to drive tangible benefits for our shareholders through a return on our invested capital, acceleration of our long-term strategic plan and expansion of our technical capabilities.”
