Samsung Electronics has announced the launch of the Samsung Automotive Innovation Fund, a $300 million (£220.9m) project focused on investing in connected car safety, privacy, and connectivity.
The full list of topics the fund will concentrate on include smart sensors, machine vision, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing.
Alongside the money, HARMAN, the automotive technology provider acquired by Samsung earlier this year, will establish a new autonomous strategic business unit focused around advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The unit will report to the company’s connected car division “to develop key technologies for safer, smarter, connected vehicles,” in the words of the company.
The first strategic investment of the fund will be placed in TTTech, a company which provides networking based on time-triggered technology and modular safety platforms, to the tune of €75m (£66.1m). The company, headquartered in Vienna, can boast Boeing and NASA among its clients, alongside various automotive manufacturers.
“During this period of extraordinary transformation in the automotive industry, we are excited to play a leadership role in supporting and shaping the future of smarter, more connected vehicles,” said Young Sohn, president and chief strategy officer of Samsung Electronics and chairman of HARMAN. “The Autonomous/ADAS Strategic Business Unit and automotive fund reflect the company’s commitment to the values of open innovation in collaboration.
“In partnership with OEMs and startups, we will make the driver and passenger experience safer, more convenient, and more enjoyable,” he added.
HARMAN CEO Dinesh Paliwal added: “There is already a high demand for ADAS solutions, and that demand is rapidly growing with the advancements in connected cars and autonomous driving. This strategic business unit demonstrates Samsung’s and HARMAN’s commitment to answer that call – to be the definitive partner for seamless and integrated technologies.”
The keynote to this announcement – as the TTTech investment exemplifies – is around connected car safety. Samsung cited statistics from the World Health Organisation which said road injuries were among the top 10 causes of death worldwide, with more than 35,000 fatal crashes in the US each year alone.
Yet put in a different context, a report from the University of Michigan found that global fatalities from road crashes represented 2.4% of fatalities from all causes, with Oman (9.3%) the highest, Sweden, the UK and Micronesia (0.3%) the lowest, and the US at below the global average at 1.3%.
Read more: Transformers: Assessing the connected car revolution – and what is coming next
Interested in hearing industry leaders discuss subjects like this and sharing their IoT use-cases? Attend the IoT Tech Expo World Series events with upcoming shows in Silicon Valley, London and Amsterdam to learn more.
The show is co-located with the AI & Big Data Expo, Cyber Security & Cloud Expo and Blockchain Expo so you can explore the entire ecosystem in one place.
