DETROIT – Lear Corp. is making a new investment in a Silicon Valley venture-capital fund it has previously backed.
The seating and electronics supplier said Tuesday that it invested an undisclosed sum into the second fund operated by Menlo Park, Calif.-based Autotech Ventures, which bankrolls startups in autonomous driving, infotainment systems, automotive cybersecurity, etc.
Lear made the investment through its Lear Innovation Ventures arm, which it launched in January 2019. The new division is designed to position Lear in front of competitors by embedding it in the world of tech startups.
Last year, it also partnered with startup incubator Techstars Detroit by offering the organization space in its downtown office and serving as a corporate sponsor. Lear also invested in another venture capital fund managed by Israel-based Maniv Mobility.
“With Autotech Ventures’ deep industry network and focus on identifying emerging trends in the automotive market, this is an excellent opportunity for (Lear Innovation Ventures),” John Absmeier, Lear’s chief technology officer, said in a press release. “As consumer demand increases for intelligent mobility and experience-enabling technologies, we are focused on making every drive better through strategic investment and purpose-driven innovation.”
It’s currently unclear whether other local companies and suppliers participated in the funding round. In December, Volvo Group Venture Capital invested into the fund as well.
Lear is seeking to grow its $5.5 billion-a-year electronics business because of slower growth in its larger, traditional $15 billion automotive seating business. Commodities and competition significantly limit margins in the seating business. But electronics systems are growing quickly thanks to electrification, autonomous systems and connectivity in vehicles.
Lear forecasts growing its e-systems annual business to $8 billion by 2025, a 45 percent increase.
Before unveiling its innovation division, Lear had previously invested heavily in startups and smaller technology firms. In 2015, Lear bought the intellectual property and technology of Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Autonet Mobile Inc., an Internet-based telematics and app service provider for the automotive market and acquired automotive connectivity supplier Arada Systems Inc. – which supplies vehicle-to-infrastructure technology on roadways, including in the city of Detroit.
The new fund is the second by Autotech Ventures. It closed on its first, a $120 million fund, in 2017. Several auto suppliers, including BorgWarner Inc., Autoliv, Denso International and Mahle, participated in that fund.
Autotech Ventures’ portfolio holds roughly 20 companies, including charter bus booking platform bus.com, autonomous vehicle sensor software firm Deepscale, Lyft, autonomous vehicle radar system company Metawave.
Lear ranks No. 8 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide sales to automakers of $21.1 billion in 2018.