- Expanding partnerships with start-ups allows ZF greater innovations in engineering and increased speed to market
ZF and the digital start-up accelerator Plug & Play have agreed on a strategic cooperation. As 'Founding Anchor Partner', ZF can further expand its network of partners to start-up companies which are active in relevant technology areas, it says.
Plug & Play, located in Silicon Valley, California/USA, is known for connecting start-ups to corporations and invests in over 100 companies every year. With the new cooperation, ZF says it can build closer links to young and innovative enterprises dealing with 'disruptive trends and pportunities related to connected mobility'.
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ZF also said it may consider long-term cooperations and/or direct investments using "Zukunft Ventures GmbH", its venture capital company established last year.
"The collaboration with Plug & Play helps us to keep an eye on the emerging trends in the digital world and the global scene of startups", says Mamatha Chamarthi, Chief Digital Officer (CDO), ZF.
"Expanding our partnerships with newly emerging start-ups alongside our traditional partners will help us to deliver added value to our customers through enhanced products and services."
ZF says it is a 'great opportunity to adapt our engineering processes in such a way that they can gain momentum from the digital start-up scene'.
Examples of a first exchange are start-up Selection Days with pitches or Hackathons.
Plug & Play was established in 2006 and each year evaluates more than 8,000 start-ups from various technology fields. Former start-ups such as Dropbox and PayPal benefited from the promotion of Plug & Play.
