South Korea-based electronics producer Samsung launched a $300m automotive-focused investment fund today called Samsung Automotive Innovation Fund.
The fund will make strategic investments in companies developing connected and autonomous vehicle products in areas such as smart sensors, machine vision, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, connectivity, automotive safety, security and privacy technology.
The unit will bolster Samsung’s own technology efforts in the sector. It has received licences to test its autonomous driving software and hardware on the road in California and Korea.
Samsung’s portfolio companies in the sector already include autonomous car technology developer NuTonomy, vehicle communication system provider AutoTalks and collision warning system creator CarVi.
Samsung’s first deal out of the fund is a €75m ($89m) investment in TTTech, an Austria-based developer of networked safety control systems that help make industrial and transport electronics systems safer and more reliable.
TTTech has a long-standing relationship with one of its investors, automotive manufacturer Audi, and has created automated driving systems for another carmaker, Volkswagen, which have been successfully piloted. It has also developed systems for planes and spacecraft.
The company previously received $55m of funding from Audi, semiconductor producer Infineon Technologies and industrial and power equipment manufacturer General Electric in early 2015. It was spun out of Vienna University of Technology in 1998.
Young Sohn, Samsung’s chief strategy officer and chairman of Harman, said: “Automotive advances like autonomous controls and advanced driver assistance systems will have a profound impact on society – from transforming urban spaces to bringing mobility to aging populations.
“At Samsung, we see it as our responsibility to invest in the technologies that will revolutionize the way we live, work and connect with one another. TTTech has demonstrated a remarkable ability to innovate and build world-class technologies and platforms.
“This is a seminal moment for Samsung and our Automotive Innovation Fund, and we look forward to working with leading [original equipment manufacturers] like Audi and the entire TTTech team to set a new standard for automotive-safety technology.”
Samsung established the unit at the same time as Harman, the connected product developer acquired by Samsung in March this year, formed a new unit that will concentrate on connected vehicle technology, in collaboration with Samsung’s Strategy and Innovation Center.