Honda expands innovation program to start-ups in Detroit, Japan, China and Europe

Committed to creating transformative products and services through open innovation, Honda Innovations is expanding its global open innovation program for early stage innovators to Detroit, Japan, China, and Europe.

Modeled on its successful Honda Xcelerator program in Mountain View, California, Honda Innovations will guide other Honda operations as they establish startup liasons globally, providing protocols and best practices to identify and engage with start-ups and entreprenuers who share Honda’s vision for transforming mobility.

Established in 2015, Honda Xcelerator supports selected start-ups with funding for rapid prototyping, access to a collaborative workspace, and pairs the companies with Honda mentors. Focus areas for Honda Xcelerator include Energy Innovation, Human Machine Interface, Personal Mobility, Industrial Innovation, Autonomous Vehicles, Artificial Intelligence, Smart Materials, and Robotics.

By engaging more deeply with the local startup community in these regions, the start-up liaisons will create win-win opportunities for collaborations between top innovators and Honda. “The pace of innovation is increasing with the rapid expansion of the global start-up community, and has the potential to help Honda transform its future products, services, and business opportunities,” said Honda Innovations CEO, Nick Sugimoto. “With our expanded collaboration in Detroit, Japan, China, and Europe, Honda will be in an even stronger position to discover emerging technologies and establish partnerships to help create new value for our customers.”

Innovations aplenty at CES 2017
At CES 2017, Honda Xcelerator showcased its startup collaborations with partners, LEIA 3D and VocalZoom. In partnership with LEIA 3D, Honda developed a driver’s display meter using nano technology that can provide three-dimensional images, switching seamless transitions between different viewing angles for warnings and driver-assistive systems. Honda also collaborated with VocalZoom to apply its optical microphone technology to enhance the in-car experience improving voice interaction inside the vehicle at CES 2017. Honda Xcelerator will introduce its new start-up collaborations at CES 2018. Honda previously established partnerships with incubators MassChallenge (Boston, Mass.) and Drive (Tel Aviv, Israel) and equity crowd funding platform OurCrowd (Jerusalem, Israel) to support outreach to startups in key innovation hubs globally.