Daimler : Europe's largest innovation platform STARTUP AUTOBAHN presents "Plug and Play Global Innovation Awards"

Stuttgart, 19 July 2018 - This year's 'Plug and Play Global Innovation Awards' go to nine STARTUP AUTOBAHN project partners: DXC Technology and Murata with Context360 in the category 'Cross Collaboration', Hewlett Packard Enterprise with Streamr and Webasto with Codepan in the category 'Performance', and Daimler with Evopark in the category 'Implementation'.

'At the heart of STARTUP AUTOBAHN is the collaboration between corporations and startups with the aim of successfully driving joint technology projects,' says Sascha Karimpour, Managing Director of Plug & Play Germany GmbH. With the Global Innovation Award, the successful investor and accelerator Plug and Play from Silicon Valley honors the project work of various STARTUP AUTOBAHN partners who successfully bundle their competencies for the digital challenges of the future.

Global Innovation Award - Cross Collaboration

Plug and Play presents the Global Innovation Award in the category 'Cross Collaboration' to the most successful team up of project partners that design new digital solutions addressing future challenges. The winner in the fourth program is the startup Context360 (mobile sensor analysis), that collaborated with DXC Technology (independent IT Service Provider) and Murata (electronic components and sensor technology) to develop a solution for the consumer goods industry. The solution allows consumer goods manufacturers to deliver a new customer experience to end customers, allowing to analyze and predict the consumption of goods which will get replaced in a subscription model.

Global Innovation Award - Performance

In the category 'Performance' the award went to the startup Steamr that partnered together with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). The winners set up a Blockchain platform for the marketing of vehicle data within four weeks. Car owners can control who may use the sensor data of their vehicle for a fee. Dealers, meteorological services, road traffic departments, or mapping services can use the platform to purchase train data to improve their offerings or attract customers. The vehicle sensor data is transmitted in real time to a marketplace where data sellers and buyers find each other. Settlement takes place via smart contracts and cryptocurrencies.

The second prize winner in this category is the startup Codepan with the company Webasto, who jointly carried out a fast and successful pilot project. Codepan worked closely with Webasto's development and test engineers to apply their data analysis, machine learning and forecasting methods to large amounts of data (big data). This gives the engineers a very deep insight into the data and products that could not be used to this extent so far.

Global Innovation Award - Implementation: Long-term cooperation as a success factor for the mobility of the future by Mercedes-Benz

The success story of the long-term cooperation between Mercedes-Benz and the startup evopark is entering the next round: the technological service provider evopark from the first programme has mastered the long distance from scouting to the pilot phase and right up to introduction, and has won a Global Innovation Award in the Implementation category. The Mercedes-Benz parking card created during this cooperation replaces the paper ticket, uses an RFID chip to open the barrier in the multi-storey car park and allows cashless payment of the parking fee. Currently 13 cities are planned with more than 18,000 parking spaces for the market launch in August. Presently further multi-storey car parks are being connected to the new technology. The card can be ordered from the Mercedes me portal. Customers can also view the invoice in the same portal. The parking fees are paid directly to the carpark operator by credit card. Following the introduction of what3words in the new multimedia system MBUX, this means that the second project in the Accelerator programme is successfully going live this year. In February 2017, what3words was included in the second programme of STARTUP AUTOBAHN. Within the innovative address system navigation destinations can be entered and searched for by using text and voice input with the help of three-word addresses. What3words has divided the entire world into 57 trillion squares of three metres by three metres and has allocated each of these squares a unique three-word address - including places where there are no regular street addresses.

Opening of a new STARTUP AUTOBAHN location in India

Following the successful launch of STARTUP AUTOBAHN in Germany, Singapore and China, the innovation platform also went live in India in May this year together with our partner Mercedes-Benz Research & Development India. The focus of the STARTUP AUTOBAHN programme in India is on the development of joint solutions with local startups in Mercedes-Benz Cars production, research & development and IT.

STARTUP AUTOBAHN EXPO Day on 19 July 2018 in the Carl Benz Arena in Stuttgart

More than 800 international participants experienced the EXPO Day STARTUP AUTOBAHN in the Carl Benz Arena in Stuttgart on July 19, 2018. The visitors gained insight and exchanged ideas with the pioneers of future technologies in the areas of 'Vehicle Tech and Services,' 'Smart Material and Sensors,' 'AI, Blockchain and Big Data,' and 'Industry 4.0 and Supply-Chain-Logistics.' On this fourth STARTUP AUTOBAHN EXPO Day, 31 startups from 18 countries exclusively presented their 55 pilot projects from 100 busy days with the 19 leading industry players. Sascha Karimpour, Managing Director of Plug and Play Germany GmbH, welcomed the guests and conveyed the basic values of the platform. Among the keynote speakers at EXPO Day were leading American experts such as Jeff Burton, co-founder of Electronic Arts & CEO of Woodside Creek, and Allison Arieff, Contributing Columnist of the New York Times & Editorial Director at SPUR. On the topics 'Who will build on the last century to lead the next century' and 'Will Autonomous Vehicles Save Cities,' the top speakers provided food for thought and new perspectives on the future of mobility. Sarah Harman, known as the presenter of Deutsche Welle, acted as a master of ceremonies .

About STARTUP AUTOBAHN

STARTUP AUTOBAHN powered by Plug and Play is a neutral platform that moderates in-depth and curated collaborations between key partners from industry, investors and mentors to help the growth of start-ups. STARTUP AUTOBAHN holds two three-month programs annually, which are concluded by an EXPO Day. The programs are stage-agnostic, with a late-stage focus and were created to drive startups and established companies alike. STARTUP AUTOBAHN offers all the support that startups need to realize their vision faster: Space, means, people, resources and access to valuable networks of companies, investors, mentors, universities and government representatives. Plug and Play Tech Center, the Silicon Valley Accelerator and investor, supports this joint project in cooperation with Plug & Play Germany GmbH, Daimler AG, ARENA2036, the University of Stuttgart, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, DXC Technology, ZF Friedrichshafen, BASF, Porsche, Deutsche Post DHL Group, Webasto, Rolls-Royce Power Systems and the ecosystem partners Murata, HELLA, BENTELER, The Linde Group, AGC Glass Europe, Wieland Ventures, PostNL, Jardine Matheson Limited, Covea and CEPSA. Startups from all over the world are invited to submit their applications for participation in the Innovation Platform for the Future of Mobility and Industry 4.0.

More information about STARTUP AUTOBAHN powered by Plug and Play can be found online at:www.startup-autobahn.com

Press Pictures
At Flickr: http://bit.ly/2zRR0IC

Press Contact
Plug & Play Germany GmbH, Hannah Boomgaarden
E-Mail: hannah@pnptc.com, Mobile: +49 157 31986462