INFINITI Motor Company, Ltd. and Nest, a leading venture capital firm and innovation partner, concluded the nine-week INFINITI LAB Global Accelerator 3.0 today with a Demo Day. The seven startups, with two from Hong Kong and the remaining five from Canada, Germany, Mexico, Sweden and the US, pitched their business to more than 100 investors and key retail partners in hope of securing partnerships and funding to propel their businesses to the next phase. Among the investors and partners were retail companies DFS, Nielsen, Hysan, Shanghai Tang and Bluebell Group who attended to hear the startups’ plans to develop technologies that enhance the customer journey for ‘The Future Consumer’.
INFINITI LAB is a global program that works with startups around the world to address locally
relevant challenges. During the INFINITI LAB Global Accelerator 3.0, seven startups were chosen from more than 130 applications across the globe to participate in the program, including two from Hong Kong. During the nine-week program, each startup has been exposed to established investors in Asia, and benefited from an intensive business coaching and mentoring program.
“At INFINITI we are constantly striving to innovate to deliver the most personal and rewarding
customer experience. As INFINITI LAB continues to grow globally, so does our opportunity to
develop great solutions for our customers and lead innovation in the mobility space. The INFINITI LAB 3.0 is not only helping us to find technology partners to develop the future retail experience, but also inspiring us to become a more agile organization”, said Dane Fisher, General Manager, Global Business Transformation & Brand, INFINITI Motor Company.
Lawrence Morgan, Nest CEO said,” We are extremely proud to be part of the founders’ entrepreneurial journeys. The unique strengths and solutions the cohort have will truly transform the retail tech landscape for the future consumer, today.”
The seven startups that successfully completed the Global Accelerator 3.0 were invited to INFINITI’s global headquarters from five different countries. Among the startups involved in the program were Rover Parking from Canada, invited to join following their involvement in the Toronto INFINITI LAB accelerator program earlier this year. Other startups include Wyzerr (USA), actiMirror (Hong Kong), ManoMotion (Sweden), Cove (Hong Kong), Synapbox (Mexico) and Thinqs (Germany).
As a result of this program, Thinqs has validated their online-to-offline search model in the Asian
marketplace, and have gained interest from a number of Hong Kong retailers. actiMirror and Rover Parking have secured investment funding connections, and Rover Parking is in discussion to partner with INFINITI to expand their parking network in Canada.
Cove is in negotiation with property development companies in Hong Kong to launch a pilot project together with INFINITI using INFINITI vehicles to provide a shared mobility solution; while both Synapbox and Wyzerr have already piloted their products within INFINITI and
have developed global service packages to attract wider corporate partnerships.
ManoMotion has partnered with V777, an INFINITI LAB 2.0 alumni startup to develop
a revolutionary prototype – combining advanced hand gesture recognition with Virtual Reality to
create a concept for the future of digital showrooms. V777 technology was used to launch INFINITI’s all new QX50 at the recent LA Motorshow. ManoMotion is also in discussion to explore longer term product collaboration with INFINITI.
Ross Garvie, Head of INFINITI LAB said; “This year, focusing on “The Future Consumer” we worked with startups looking at data analytics, shared parking, AR displays, gesture recognition and facial recognition. Each startup was selected as they share INFINITI’s vision to improve the future of retail and enhance the customer journey”.