New Mobility Concepts: ZKW Announces Winners Of Startup Program “Drive Light & Sight”

Known for its innovativeness and specialization in premium lighting and electronic systems in the automotive industry, ZKW, in partnership with the data science company StartUs Insights, launched the Startup Program “Drive Light & Sight”. With the mission to accelerate the development of innovative solutions for future mobility concepts, ZKW invited the top eight companies to its premises in Wieselburg, Austria.

In a two-day event, these eight startups developed new use cases for their technologies whereby three were awarded a spot in ZKW’s Partnership Program as well as a total of 30.000€ prize money, sponsored by Oberbank. “We already have bright minds at ZKW, still it is crucial for any company to open up to external know-how to accelerate the innovation process. For ZKW, it is the only way to keep being a technological leader in the age of autonomous driving”, explains Ralf Klädtke, CTO ZKW Group, the importance of continuous development.

International Applications

In a fast-changing environment, open innovation helps to speed up innovation and to develop products and services that imply key competitive advantage. Therefore, ZKW decided to look for innovative startups to co-develop new products for mutual benefit.

The eight startups participating in the event were chosen from roughly 40 international applications, and their ideas proved to be as diverse as their origin: Israeli-based Newsight Imaging has developed CMOS image chips for the processing of LiDAR sensor data for optical distance and velocity measurement. UK’s Photonic Vision has advanced a LiDAR-Vision sensor technology capable of combining optical distance and velocity data and imaging information. Berlin startup Brighter AI showcased their algorithm that processes visual data thereby removing interference factors such as fog thus optimizing images for further processing. Lightly Technologies from Ireland presented their ultra-thin LED light “Hikari SQ” and Canada’s XYZ Interactive introduced their 3D gesture sensors.

Awarding The Best Ideas

Drive Light & Sight Winners: Newsight Imaging, Photonic Vision, Brighter AI

ZKW’s Ralf Klädtke (CTO), Christian Bemmer (Director Innovation Management), Gerald Böhm (Director Pre-Development), and Sebastian Mayerhofer (Director Legal & Insurance), as well as Oberbank Senior Banker Gerald Hoschek, made up the expert jury of the event to whom the startups presented their solutions. Prior to their presentation, the startups, in collaboration with internal ZKW experts, worked on developing new concepts for the realization of their technologies. The jury awarded a spot in ZKW’s Partnership Program as well as 10.000€ each to Newsight Imaging, Photonic Vision, and Brighter AI. In the upcoming months, these three startups will work together with ZKW to implement new solutions and technologies for the lighting system in the age of autonomous driving.

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