The fund will target startups operating in autonomous driving, zero-emission, connected vehicle, Artificial Intelligence, and AR/VR
AISIN Group, a global automotive components and systems manufacturer, is launching a US$50 million venture fund with Fenox Venture Capital, a Silicon Valley fund with significant investments in Southeast Asia.
This new fund — Fenox Venture Company XX, L.P. — will target startups operating in the areas of automotive-related technologies, such as autonomous driving, zero-emission, connected vehicle, Artificial Intelligence, and AR/VR.
The partnership will act as a bridge between US and Asian/global market.
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Fenox will manage this strategic fund as a General Partner.
“The goal of this fund is to discover top automotive technologies that can help improve AISIN’s current technology offerings. AISIN wants to invest in top startups, who can collaborate, enhance its technologies and expand business reach,” Fenox’s General Partner and CEO Anis Uzzaman told e27.
Uzzaman added that this tie-up will enable AISIN to access top automotive startup technologies from all over the world. Fenox will do the sourcing of the strategic deals using its global network, run due diligence and work with AISIN to make strategic investments. Post-investment, Fenox will work closely with the Japanese company to build strong ties with the portfolio firms and collaborate to enhance/promote/expand their technologies.
The fund will look to invest in startups of all stages. The ticket size will vary depending on the investment stage. On an average, it aims to invest between US$250,000 and US$5 million each.
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Last week, AISIN, Toyota and Denso announced a US$2.8 billion joint venture for researching and developing automated-driving technology. According to Uzzaman, the Fenox partnership is rather an additional effort on AISIN’s part to enhance its automotive-related technology offerings. “AISIN not only wants to find out top technologies, but also wants to understand the technology trend, new types of business models and business techniques through this partnership/fund.”
Of late, the multi-billion automative sector has turned to Silicon Valley to discover and incorporate new technologies. For instance, German behemoth BMW moved its venture arm to Silicon Valley at the end of 2016 with a US$500 million fund. Japanese major Toyota also opened Toyota AI Ventures with US$100 million to target top Silicon Valley AI technologies. GM is also working with Plug & Play technology centre to partner with early-stage startups.
“We are seeing a lot of automotive play in Silicon Valley. With the concentration of top startups from all over the world, we are definitely seeing an increase in number of automotive startups in Silicon Valley. A lot of the Silicon Valley startups are in the areas of AI, AR/VR, zero emission, connected car, autonomous driving, security space,” said Uzzaman.”We are also seeing an increase in the number of such startups in China and Japan.”
Established in 1965, AISIN makes products for automotive (drivetrain, body, brake and chassis, engine, information technology-related) and lifestyle (sewing machines, beds, gas heat pump products, etc.).
Fenox Venture Capital is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, which has invested in more than 120 companies, globally. Its investment areas include IT, health IT, AI, IoT, robotics, Big Data, VR/AR, fintech, and next-gen technologies.
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