Honda Taps MassChallenge and Boston Tech Community, Reaching Out to Region Steeped in Tech Entrepreneurs and Bringing Open Innovation Approach to New Markets
03/08/2016
Source: American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Seeking opportunities to collaborate with New England’s top tech innovators and entrepreneurs to quickly bring emerging mobility technologies to market, Honda has formed a new partnership with MassChallenge, the region’s most influential tech accelerator. At an event with MassChallenge Tuesday, Honda will invite Boston’s tech talent to forge relationships with Honda Developer Studio and Honda Xcelerator, two open innovation initiatives it established over the past 18-months in Silicon Valley, Calif. Honda will visit Boston on a regular basis to hold office hours and meet with local startups and entrepreneurs at MassChallenge.
“Boston has a deep bench of tech talent supported by prestigious universities and bolstered by a healthy VC presence,” said Nick Sugimoto, Senior Program Director, Honda Silicon Valley Lab. “There is a tremendous level of passion and creativity beyond Silicon Valley that we want to tap into.”
Honda Developer Studio enables app developers to work directly with Honda engineers to create apps that are road-ready more quickly. Honda Xcelerator provides tech innovators with funding for rapid prototyping, a collaborative workspace and pairing with Honda mentors. Honda is particularly interested in emerging connected car and vehicle intelligence technologies, along with novel human-machine interfaces.
“The transportation sector has been a challenging market for startup organizations to break into, but companies like Honda are working to remove the high barriers to entry,” said Scott Bailey, Managing Director of MassChallenge Boston. “Through this partnership, we are excited to be driving innovation in the space by helping high-impact, high-growth entrepreneurs get to market and scale their businesses more efficiently.”
In addition to Boston, Honda recently engaged the Israeli tech community for the first time in partnership with OurCrowd, one of the world’s leading equity crowdfunding platforms.
About Honda R&D Americas, Inc.
Honda R&D Americas, Inc. (HRA) is responsible for creating advanced products and technologies that provide new value to Honda and Acura customers. HRA has the capability of “complete product creation” – developing all-new products, starting from market and technology research and design styling through engineering design, prototype fabrication and testing, local parts procurement, and support for mass production preparation. With major facilities in California, Ohio, North Carolina and Florida, HRA is engaged in the development and testing of Honda and Acura automobiles, and Honda power sports and power equipment products, and is also taking a leading role in the advancement of leading-edge safety, driver assistive and environmental technologies.
About MassChallenge
MassChallenge is the most startup-friendly accelerator on the planet. No equity and not-for-profit, we are obsessed with helping entrepreneurs across any industry. We also reward the highest-impact startups through a competition to win a portion of several million dollars in equity-free cash awards. Through our global network of accelerators in Boston, London, Jerusalem, Geneva, and Mexico City, and unrivaled access to our corporate partners, we can have a massive impact – driving growth and creating value the world over. To date, 835 MassChallenge alumni have raised over $1.1 billion and created over 6,500 jobs. For more information, please visit masschallenge.org.
High-impact, early-stage entrepreneurs can apply to MassChallenge before March 31.