DETROIT – The North American International Auto Show announced Thursday that 57 automotive technology startups will showcase their technologies as part of the NAIAS’ startup event, AutoMobili-D.
2018 NAIAS Chairman Ryan LaFontaine, CEO of the LaFontaine Automotive Group in Highland Township, noted that the number of startups exhibiting is up nearly 40 percent from the event’s launch in 2017, and that the companies hail from 11 countries. He said the event “will feature… startups participating from around the world that are highlighting innovations that touch on every aspect of mobility. Collectively these startups have raised more than $157 million in venture capital funding.”
NAIAS’ partner in the event is Boulder, Colo.-based Techstars, a worldwide network aimed at assisting entrepreneurs – specifically, its Detroit-based Techstars Mobility branch for the worldwide transportation industry.
“Detroit is transforming from the Motor City to the Mobility City,” said Ted Serbinski, managing director of Techstars Mobility. “Anchoring this transformation is AutoMobili-D, which is bringing mobility startups from around the world to Detroit. This event has emerged as a crucial connector of mobility startups to automotive and mobility companies, suppliers and related organizations. These connections align with Techstars Mobility’s mission of connecting mobility startups to these established corporations.”
The startups focus on a wide range of topics, including autonomous and connected vehicles, electrification, fleet management, hardware, logistics, manufacturing, mapping, security, smart cities and services.
AutoMobili-D runs from Sunday, Jan. 14 to Sunday, Jan. 21. The NAIAS Press Preview takes place Sunday through Tuesday, Jan. 14-16. The Industry Preview is Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 17 and 18. The NAIAS public show is Saturday, Jan. 20 through Sunday, Jan. 28.
Here’s a full list of participating startups:
- 1.21GigaWatts of Petach Tikya, Israel, developer of an autonomous traffic controller that tracks vehicles based on their RF footprint, builds a dynamic map, delivers alert signals to vehicles’ own radar and like air traffic control, coordinates autonomous vehicles through complex scenarios
- Acerta of Waterloo, Ontario, which is a platform that uses machine learning to detect malfunctions and predict failures in real time for vehicles coming off the assembly line or being driven. The platform is offered as a cloud service.
- Advano of New Orleans, La., a designed materials company that produces a drop-in silicon-based additive that is scalable, and cycle-stable with novel architectures that improves the energy density and lowers capacity cost of lithium-ion batteries.
- AEye of Pleasanton Calif., which develops advanced vision hardware, software and algorithms that act as the eyes and visual cortex of autonomous vehicles
- Afreecar of Rochester Hills, which in partnership with MIT Media Lab is developing a solar powered mobility hub to provide electricity, transportation and communications to underserved communities around the world. The vehicle will be made from local materials and reuse e-waste, such as EV batteries.
- AirspaceX of Detroit, which is developing a multi-mission electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for on-demand passenger mobility and logistics.
- Alchemy of Waterloo, Ontario, which is constructing the next generation of windshields for autonomous vehicles
- Apollo of Portland, Ore., developer of the voice of the self-driving vehicle
- Caaresys of Tel Aviv, Israel, which developed a contactless passenger monitoring system which makes car aware of the passengers. The system measures patients’ vital signs, such as heart and respiration rate, and cabin occupancy using RF rechnology
- CARFIT of Paris, France, which measures car vibrations with artificial intelligence to anticipate maintenance needs
- Carma Car of Detroit, an all-inclusive, month-to-month subscription for a vehicle you keep at home
- Carmera of New York City, which provides real-time 3D maps and navigation-critical data for autonomous vehicles, as well as 3D scene reconstruction and street analytics data for built environment uses
- CarServ of Austin, Texas, a software-as-a-service system for the automotive repair industry.
- Classic Automotive Innovations of Portland, Ore., which provides research and development services and production-grade proof of concepts for the classic car community.
- Connecthings of Paris, France, which was awarded world best solution for “Mobility & Sustainability” at SCEWC 2016. Its system turns city transit’s passive infrastructure into useful information to riders
- CryptoWatt of Chicago, developers of a system to turn charging stations into a global roaming network
- Derq of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, an MIT spin-off developing AI-based vehicle communication software for connected and autonomous vehicles to eliminate road accidents and save lives
- Drive Smart of Madrid, Spain, developer of a personal “Driving Reputation Index” every driver can obtain by using the app. As TrypAdvisor does rating hotels, DriveSmart’s index is becoming a standard recognized by the new collaborative mobility industry, adding an element of trust in their transactions
- Drive Spotter of Omaha, Neb, which provides location awareness to companies and individuals
- Drive Time Metrics of Jamestown, R.I., which provides in-vehicle listening analytics for media and a new revenue stream and customer insights for automotive
- EcoG of Munich, Germany, which provides a method for generating revenue during electric vehicle charging stops.
- Ecoservice of Vancouver, British Columbia, which provides software for carshare, ride hail, and autonomous fleets
- Excelfore of Fremont, Calif., developers of a connected vehicle platform
- GoKid of New York City, developers of a carpool system for schools, teams, and families.
- Gridwise of Pittsburgh, Pa., developers of a mobile platform for rideshare drivers which increases their earnings 20 percent by using data analytics and community to help them better understand when and where to drive
- HAAS Alert of Chicago, developers of a system that connects motorists, connected and autonomous vehicles to a smart in-road network that delivers real-time data feeds of emergency vehicles en route and on-scene
- idatase of Frankfurt, Germany, which offers professional data analytics targeting projects in the fields of energy, utilities, aviation and transportation.
- Inventev of Detroit, a manufacturer for electrified commercial trucks with emphasis on zero emission mobility, idle-free work sites and mobile power generation; plus a Detroit-based advisory and service company for mobility enterprises seeking auto-industry linkage, urban proof-of-concept testing or research.
- Invision AI of Toronto, Ontario, which enables users to recognize objects in any data feed directly on low-power processors, a hardware agnostic system that removes the need for cloud computing or special hardware.
- iSee of Cambridge, Mass., an AI startup spun out from MIT, developing and testing the autonomous driving system using a novel approach to artificial intelligence.
- LISNR of Cincinnati, Ohio, a system for device connectivity using data-over-audio near-ultrasonic sound technology
- Make My Day of Tel Aviv, Israel, developers of a smart driving assistant for planning your drive, your day and optimizing your route and errands running using AI and decision making algorithms.
- May Mobility of Ann Arbor, a driverless transportation company focused on services for places like central business districts, campuses and mixed-use developments.
- Mighty AI of Seattle, Wash., which delivers training data to companies that build computer vision models for autonomous vehicles.
- Mystro of San Francisco, which has developed an app that allows on-demand drivers to safely switch between multiple platforms such as Uber and Lyft by automating the evaluation and accepting of trips.
- NERVteh of Ljubljana, Slovenia, a simulation technology company offering services in driver skills evaluation and training, with main focus on critical situations
- Pablito of Los Angeles, a ride-sharing startup focused on the Hispanic community within the United States
- Parkbob of Vienna, Austria, which provides a system offering real-time information on parking spots that helps drivers make better decisions
- Parkofon of Alexandria, Va., which offers a fully automated parking payment and control system that can be easily integrated into the vehicle on-board electronic system.
- PathSense of Cardiff, Calif., which offers better location services for iOS and Android, including improved GPS accuracy in cities with tall buildings, tunnels, etc.
- PayBySky of London, Ontario, which offers what it says is the world’s first fully autonomous parking payment system – no coins, cards, or phones.
- Pitstop of Toronto, Ontario, which offers a system to predict vehicle failures before they happen
- PolySync of Portland, Ore., which offers enabling technologies for autonomous vehicle technology
- Populus.ai of San Francisco, a data and analytics platform to optimize the deployment of mobility services, founded by MIT PhDs with a decade of experience in transportation
- renewz of Montreal, Quebec, which offers solar power carports and canopies for homes, with or without EV chargers.
- SEEVA Technologies of Seattle, Wash., which designs visibility systems for mobility. Their technologies quickly clean windshields, cameras, LIDAR and other sensors to help vehicles see.
- Shuttle Planet of Workingham, U.K., an online marketplace for scheduled and on-demand transportation.
- SoftBit Technologies of Los Angeles, Calif., which provides a technology platform for ride-share and other on-demand businesses, comprising of native mobile apps, web technologies, machine learning algorithms and others.
- Spatial.ai of Cincinnati, Ohio, which allows navigation systems to answer questions only a local would know
- Spectalite of Detroit, a woman owned advanced engineering and materials manufacturer, making lightweight, strong, durable and eco-friendly plastics and composits incorporating bamboo
- Stroma Vision of Istanbul, Turkey, developers of a vision based interface which tracks driver behavior to decrease accidents
- Vartega of Golden, Colo., which creates low-cost recycled carbon fiber to enable mobility solutions such as battery technology, connectivity, and autonomy.
- VeloMetro Mobility of Vancouver, British Columbia, developers of an urban personal transportation system
- Vugo of Minneapolis, Minn., developers of a passenger infotainment and mobility marketplace
- Wheeli of New York City, developers of a carpooling app for college students
- Wise Systems of Cambridge, Mass., developer of route optimization software to help companies deliver goods and services when they are needed most
- XBoard fo Ithaca, N.Y., developers of an electric skateboard
Techstars Mobility is the first North American accelerator focused on the future of transportation and mobility. Headquartered in downtown Detroit but investing worldwide in startups, Techstars Mobility has invested in 33 mobility startups since June 2015. More at www.techstars.com.
More about the NAIAS, now in its 30th year an international event, at naias.com.