Bridgestone Americas Inc. has made a strategic investment in ClearMotion Inc., a venture-backed technology company developing road sensing software and hardware that aims to improve ride performance in cars. As part of the investment, Bridgestone will have opportunities to integrate and leverage ClearMotion’s forward-looking technology to rapidly engineer new solutions for the automotive industry. The investment amount is not being disclosed.
“Bridgestone has a long history of engineering best-in-class tire and mobility solutions, and investing in ClearMotion is an opportunity to expand a technology area that is aligned with our solutions mindset and strategic growth plans,” said Bill Thompson, chief operating officer, Bridgestone Americas. “We will be working with ClearMotion not only to advance the future of the digital, connected, autonomous car, but also to leverage our leadership in tire, anti-vibration and air spring technology in order to deliver unparalleled ride comfort, safety and more advanced mobility solutions.”
ClearMotion, which designs and builds digital motion control systems, has developed forward-looking technology called proactive ride. The system, with its proprietary software algorithms, makes traditional dampers intelligent and responsive, delivering dramatic improvements in comfort, performance and safety.
“We want to improve the quality of time in cars,” said Shakeel Avadhany, ClearMotion’s CEO and co-founder. “Innovation coming online now will change how we spend time on the road. ClearMotion delivers previously unachievable levels of comfort and safety combined with handling abilities beyond that of today’s sports cars. The vision for autonomy is to enable productivity on the road, but this is only achievable with a stable, comfortable ride.”
Bridgestone is the only tire and rubber manufacturing company invested in ClearMotion.
To learn more about Bridgestone, visit bridgestoneamericas.com.
