Venture Studios: Now Accepting Startup Submissions Focused on Automotive
By Roger Chabra
TribalScale Venture Studios opened its doors on February 7th. Two weeks later Peter Aceto, former President and CEO of Tangerine (formerly ING DIRECT), and Farid Kassam, Owner of Akeelee, joined the Financial Services Venture Studio program. Their guidance and involvement has been instrumental, and submissions from smart entrepreneurs have been rolling in. We have also now conducted idea discovery sessions with financial institutions from the US, Canada, and the Middle East. Our Venture Studios team has grown to 14 people and will grow even further in the next few weeks. This team hasn’t stopped grinding.
Now, we’re accepting submissions for our Automotive Venture Studio. This studio kicked off on March 12th and we’re looking to innovate and build disruptive global startups. Through extensive TribalScale research, sessions with our Automotive Executives-in-Residence (XiRs) and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EiRs), and thorough idea discovery sessions with major Automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) around the world, we have broken the automotive industry down into three components that are ripe for disruption:
- “Make”: the manufacturing process of an automobile and the associated supply chain
- “Buy and/or sell”: the traditional dealership, and newer models through which a user can buy or sell an automobile
- “Use”: how a consumer engages with an automobile and how an automobile engages with the mobility ecosystem
Based on these three components, our automotive team has come up with dozens of ideas that are ready to be vetted. Some of the common themes are:
- Autonomous Vehicles (AV) and technology
- Dealership models
- Fleet management & automobile maintenance
- In-car experiences — content & services
- Mobility
- Parts
- Telematics
- Transportation-as-a-Service
But we need more. We know sustained innovation demands ideas and perspectives from all directions. We want your ground-breaking ideas and companies to push our ability to disrupt this industry.
We’re accepting applications from entrepreneurs with idea-stage or seed-stage startups. Companies that focus on emerging technologies — such as AI, Blockchain, and Voice — in the automotive sector have the chance to apply to Venture Studios, and take advantage of our proprietary innovation framework which includes working closely with industry experts and major customers. Venture Studios has the international reach, leverage capacity, and resources to disrupt and re-define this industry. Successfully accepted companies will be provided a target of $500,000 in cash and in-kind services, with potential additional follow-on capital available from TribalScale’s follow-on funding pool, and network of co-investors.
Apply now: http://www.tribalscale.com/venture-studios
Roger Chabra has more than 20 years of venture capital, operating and entrepreneurial experience. He currently leads TribalScale Venture Studios as Chief Innovation Officer.
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