Collaboration is perhaps a new mantra of some car companies across the globe in order to promise a better innovation in the future. Mitsubishi Motors and Renault-Nissan—three of the biggest player in the automotive world—has officially announced its partnership forming an alliance group that will prioritize next generation mobility.
Named as Alliance Ventures, a corporate venture fund that plans to invest up to $1 billion to support innovation in mobility. This new entity will act as main interface for start-ups, investors and venture capital ecosystem.
This year, the group expects to invest up to $200 million in start-ups and partnerships with entrepreneurs. They will focused on new mobility, which includes vehicle electrification, autonomous systems, connectivity and artificial intelligence. The partnership (Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi) will set them to become the largest corporate venture capital fund in the automotive industry over the period of Alliance 2022, the strategic midterm plan launched last year by Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi.
“Our open innovation approach will allow us to invest and collaborate with start-up companies and technology entrepreneurs, who will benefit from the global scale of the Alliance. This new fund reflects the collaborative spirit and entrepreneurial mind-set at the heart of the Alliance,” said Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi.
“This investment initiative is designed to attract the world’s most promising automotive-technology start-ups to the Alliance,” Ghosn added.
Their difference between other car partnerships? Well, according to the group, the new fund is unique because it offers potential partners access to the global scale and scope of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, which sold more than 10 million vehicles in 2017 through 10 separate brands with a presence in all major automotive markets.
The group will invest in start-ups to bring new technologies and businesses to the Alliance while ensuring a fair financial return. The fund will make strategic investments at all start-up stages and will incubate both new automotive entrepreneurs and forge new partnerships.
Moreover, Alliance Ventures will also help identify and support the development of new technologies for potential use by Alliance members. Such initiatives are aligned with the objectives of Alliance 2022, which aims to strengthen cooperation and to double the annualized synergies generated by Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors to more than €10 billion by the end of 2022.
The $200 million initial venture capital investment comes in addition to more than €8.5 billion in total annual research and development investments by the Alliance members.
Leading the group will be François Dossa, who has over 20 years of experience in investment banking, plus six years of experience within the Alliance, most recently, as chief executive officer of Nissan Brazil.
Dossa joined the Alliance in April 2017 and managed the creation of Alliance Ventures. Prior to his current position, François was CEO of Nissan do Brazil Automóveis. Dossa holds a Master in Corporate Business and Administration from HEC Paris in 1984.
Alliance Ventures will define innovation areas and geographic markets for investment, working with existing research and advanced engineering teams, and will recruit venture capital experts to develop the platform. It is expected to be co-located in Silicon Valley, Paris, Yokohama and Beijing, close to the technology and research centers of the Alliance member companies, as well as to areas with strong innovation ecosystems.
The car company trio Renault (40%), Nissan (40%) and Mitsubishi Motors (20%) will jointly fund the entity, which will have a dedicated investment committee to make investment decisions and monitor their performance.