by Nada Welker | Jul 18, 2022 | Automotive Industry, Future Trends, Know-How and inspiration, Market development & Trends, New Mobility, Startups, strategy in change
The startup industry is currently at a crossroads. Founders have long complained about how difficult the issue of financing has become. While young companies were able to quickly raise a lot of venture capital until last year, many of these founders are now facing the challenge of sustainably financing further growth. Last but not least, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have also contributed to the increasing pressure for venture capital-funded tech startups. In Stuttgart, the national and international startup scene met for the 12th Startup Autobahn Expo Day, to discuss, among other things, where startups and the financing industry are headed in the future.
Are the golden years for tech startups over?
Plunging share prices, waves of layoffs – the current crisis on the global markets is hitting even supposedly successful companies. Whether it’s Klarna, Gorillas or Tesla, startups and large tech companies alike are currently struggling with major turbulence worldwide. Venture capitalists prefer to hold back the previously cheap money, startups are no longer looking at the next big leap in growth, but at whether they will survive the next half year. According to the tracking site layoffs.fyi, about 50,000 employees have been laid off in the startup industry worldwide since the beginning of 2022. Even in Israel, the country with one of the biggest startup scenes in the world, the big boom seems to be over. While investments in tech startups were still at $25 billion in 2021, the pace has dropped significantly this year. A trend that, by all accounts, looks set to continue. Rising interest rates, the Ukraine war and, above all, the shortage of skilled workers in the software sector are taking their toll on Israel’s flagship industry. Many startups are cutting back on spending, and investors have become more selective.
And although Germany has a large network of investors and business angels, which is now also recognized worldwide, startups in the early stages in particular have found it increasingly difficult to generate sufficient capital to scale. Due to the increased risk in the early founding phase, traditional bank financing is not available to most startups – they then have to access venture capital. The German market has developed a lot for this in recent years, but in an international comparison, Germany still only ranks in the middle. The majority of financing is provided by foreign investors from the USA and Asia. And even in later financing phases, they are usually ahead of the pack; a development that is causing the current German government a major headache in terms of innovative strength and safeguarding know-how and jobs in Germany.
The startup ecosystem in Germany has developed rapidly: already in 2020, almost 400,000 people were working at a startup. By 2030, that number is expected to double. And in terms of venture capital, Germany was also ahead in a European comparison in 2021: 15 billion euros were invested in startups. If there were 25 so-called “unicorns” (startups with a market valuation of at least one billion U.S. dollars) in Germany in 2020, this number is to be doubled in Europe by 2030. The German government is working to ensure that this can be realized: Europe and Germany are to be maintained and developed as a strong tech startup location. Based on the “EU Digital Decade 2030,” an initiative of the European Commission led by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Europe and Germany are to be made fit for the digital transformation. In addition to the implementation of digital services and the expansion of high-speed Internet in rural and urban areas, strengthening Europe as a location for start-ups is at the top of the agenda. To this end, the German government has announced a 10-point plan that is part of a consistent startup strategy:
- Strengthen funding for startups
- Make it easier for startups to attract talent and make employee ownership more attractive
- Ignite startup spirit, make startups easier and more digital
- Strengthen female startup founders and diversity
- Facilitate startup spinoffs from academia
- Improve framework conditions for public benefit-oriented startups
- Mobilize startup skills for public contracts
- Make it easier for startups to access data
- Strengthen reallabs (test spaces for innovation and regulation)
- Put startups at the center
This strategy is expected to be approved by the federal cabinet in the summer, followed by implementation and regular monitoring. However, it remains to be seen how the situation in the industry might have worsened by then.
The startup scene is reinventing itself
The fact that the current crises in the world and on the financial markets are preoccupying all industries was also noticeable at the 12th Expo Day in Stuttgart, which finally took place again this summer on site at the Wizemann Areal in Stuttgart. There, more than 1,000 interested people and 27 startups met on three stages to exchange information about current projects and future topics. Startup Autobahn powered by Plug and Play is an open innovation platform for tech startups from the automotive, mechanical engineering, health and enterprise industries, with now more than 30 renowned industry partners (including Mercedes-Benz, Webasto, Bosch or Deutsche Post). The aim of the Accelerator is to develop joint pilot projects, which are then presented to the general public at the Expo Day, which takes place twice a year.
The focus of the opening keynote by Ola Källenius, head of Mercedes Benz Group AG, was “Transformation and Innovation at Mercedes Benz” with two major challenges: Decarbonization, i.e. achieving CO2 neutrality, and digitalization in the vehicle. With the development of the Vision EQXX concept vehicle, he said Mercedes is at least 10 years ahead of the industry, which is committed to a holistic overall approach to CO2 reduction in the supply chain, production and the vehicle itself. He predicts a 100% electric future for the Stuttgart automaker, which should become a reality by the end of 2030 at the latest. On the subject of the digitized vehicle, Källenius spoke about the coexistence of software and hardware and the immense potential for innovation in this area. Here, innovation often comes through cooperation – many tech startups were also involved in the Vision EQXX, which developed from pilot projects at Startup Autobahn, such as UBQ materials from Israel or Ventus from Stuttgart. “Efficiency is the new currency of the EV area,” Källenius says, and this can only be realized by challenging the status quo as often as possible.
Tanja Rückert, CDO at Bosch, talked about the fact that collaboration with tech startups brings great benefits for both sides in her panel. Of course, the strategic fit must first be clear, especially from the customer’s point of view. But what concrete advantages do startups and companies have when they join forces strategically? For startups: resources, processes and scalability, for companies: Agility and streamlining of innovation cycles.
Saori Dubourg (MoB BASF) brought a completely new perspective on sustainability in startup financing to the stage in her presentation “The future needs a better design”. Until recently, the goal was to invest as much as possible (“volume”) – in the future, the focus, in all areas, but also in financing, is on the sustainable use of resources (“value”). Worldwide, investments in ESG funds have risen to an incredible 2.57 trillion US dollars – so future investment strategies will focus more and more on social and environmental benefits, rather than purely financial growth.
The women-only panel, led by Natascha Zeljko, Co-Founder and Chief Editor at F10 FemaleOneZero & CURAZE, focused on how much opportunity the current crisis brings. The central question was: How many companies have really understood that constant change and continuous questioning of the status quo is essential for business success? Prof. Dr. Katharina Hölzle (University of Stuttgart & Fraunhofer IAO) argued that the understanding for change is now there, but the radical implementation of it is still not happening in many companies. The younger generation in particular has already internalized the idea of transformation. However, it is now the task of schools and universities to provide these people with the tools for implementation. Katharina Hopp (Bosch) made it clear that innovation is the only way out of crises. Especially as a hardware manufacturer, Bosch is forced to enter into strategic alliances with software startups. When it comes to diversity in the startup scene, women are still underrepresented, she said. They need to become more visible, network better and, above all, find role models. Nicole Büttner (Merantix Momentum) mentioned here the entrepreneur and founder Verena Pausder, who together with five other female entrepreneurs recently announced her investment in the women’s team of the soccer club 1. FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin. Their goal is no less than to change the German sports world for good.
Our conclusion of the day:
- the capital in the market is still there, and needs to be distributed
- it’s “back to the basics”: in the future, only tech startups whose ideas are really good and also sustainably successful will be able to persist
- a crisis is the best time to start a company
- The speed of financing rounds will slow down from about 18 months to 24 to 30 months.
- Diversity in companies needs clear structures, role models and KPIs
To drive innovation in your own company, it is worthwhile to collaborate with suitable startups. At magility, we help you make the right contacts in our international tech startup network. Contact us now – we’ll be happy to answer your questions.
Follow us for more news also on LinkedIn. We are looking forward to meeting you there!
by Nada Welker | May 12, 2022 | Startups, Future Trends, Market development & Trends, strategy in change, Technologies for new markets
Virtual objects with virtual value
Non-fungible tokens – short NFTs – are about to take on a central role in the world of bits and bytes. Why? Quite simply, they are cryptographically unique, verifiable, indivisible and irreplaceable, and thus unique in the truest sense of the word. And this attracts collectors, because many people want to own something that is unique. Expressed in figures, sales of NFTs could increase by a factor of 250 in 2021 – from 100 million to 25 billion dollars. That’s a number with nine zeros.
Clothes make tokens
Metaphorically speaking, a token has a well-stocked wardrobe. Depending on whether it represents an economic good or shows itself as an asset, the token puts on the respective cape, so to speak. However, it also likes to take on the appearance of a real good or can be linked representatively to its use as an asset in the context of a blockchain.
Exchangeable and locked-in
In the context of financial transactions, the lower class, so to speak, appears among tokens. They enable their holders to perform actions or operations within a closed system, such as a blockchain. Or they prevent the operation if someone gets the idea to manipulate a record in the chain. However, unlike coins, tokens only ever travel within a closed system. In terms of a cryptocurrency, all tokens are fungible, i.e. exchangeable.
NFTs – Unique and confined
With NFTs, this is exactly not the case. Non-fungible tokens are not exchangeable. They represent a very specific asset and are therefore unique. The only thing that connects them to ordinary tokens is the technology of storing them on the blockchain. Which brings us back to collecting. NFTs are ideal for anything that is only available in limited editions. For example, digital trading cards, characters in games, virtual possessions and whole swaths of land in virtual worlds, or so-called crypto art.
The artwork is dead – long live NFTs
Recently, once again a work of art by the British street artist Banksy had to be used to get burned on camera by a group of artists called “Burnt Banksy”. Title of the picture: “Morons”. Its value: 85,000 EUR. However, before its destruction, the image was digitized and converted into an NFT. The “Pest Control” institution set up by the master himself had verified the original as such and is now keeping the certificate of authenticity until the NFT is auctioned off. Then it will be given to the lucky owner together with the cryptographically unique, verifiable, indivisible and irreplaceable unique code of the NFT. Perhaps this is Banksy’s answer to Walter Benjamin‘s questions about the work of art in the age of its technical reproducibility.
Another example of an NFT artwork: artist Mike Winkelmann’s collage “Everydays – The First 5,000 Days,” consisting of 5,000 tiny images of digital pictures.
© Ascannio-stock.adobe.com
The metaverse grows
Other projects reach for the stars of a user-controlled, decentralized online ecosystem. Web 3.0 is supposed to dissolve the power of the few giga-platform providers and be blockchain-based, distributed among independent computers. Every user will then be a part of Web 3.0 and have absolute control over their data at all times. Some startups with this vision are currently presenting themselves as promising objects for investors.
WWW for cryptocurrency
One of these projects comes from the United Arab Emirates and is called Nexus. Here, a complete ecosystem with large-scale product and service packages is to be created. The special thing about it is the loyalty point services, with the help of which customers are to become fans. The operators hope that this will create a lifelong bond between users and a brand or product philosophy. Nexus also provides Generative NFT with signatures of artists, athletes and other celebrities. In addition, however, mystery boxes with rare collectibles are also to be issued. An overarching goal is improved blockchain technology that can handle virtual scoring traffic faster. The favorite idea not only in the United Arab Emirates: a globally networked payment system for all transactions, including small ones. This could become possible through the legal introduction of a cryptocurrency on a national level. Countries such as Denmark, Malta or Switzerland at least see no problem with payment in cryptocurrency. El Salvador was even the first country in the world to declare bitcoin as legal tender.
Learn – Trade – Play
Anyone who wants to move safely and adeptly in Web 3.0 and create assets in cryptocurrency must learn and practice. Where better to do this than with expert guidance in virtual space? So go on an exploration tour in the digital skyscraper of Bloktopia. There, you’ll find yourself in an immersive metaverse running on the Polygon network, with 21 floors spread out with a limited supply of 21 million Bitcoin. On each level, investors get a lot on offer: They can improve their skills in dedicated facilities by directly accessing educational and learning tools from prominent crypto insiders. They can try out what they have learned, for example, by buying and selling real estate or using other sources of income such as token staking, advertising or games. The fact that this form of investment is a contemporary idea can be seen from the many requests on the net.
Role reversal
Based on an Ethereum blockchain, Illuvium is a multiplayer role-playing game in a 3-D open world whose species are Illuvials. Each Illuvial is unique as a non-fungible token. Its value can be increased if its owner improves and levels it up through clever tactics in battle. This is where the ILV token comes into play, which rewards players for their achievements. This could be trivial, didn’t the ILV rank among the 200 most valuable cryptocurrencies these days with a market capitalization of around 350 million euros, according to blockchainwelt.
Outlook – Will NFTs become part of a new startup financing strategy?
As yet, only digitized artworks and digital assets can be acquired with NFTs. Why not make startup ideas available to the market in the form of NFT shares? We at magility are watching the developments closely and are excited to see what the new “NFT market” will bring in the future. Are you currently dealing with this topic and interested in an exchange? We at magility welcome your suggestions and your views on the current developments in this area. Contact us right here.
by Nada Welker | Sep 20, 2021 | Alternative Drives, Automotive Industry, New Mobility, Smart City, Startups
400,000 visitors from 95 countries, nearly 1000 speakers and 744 exhibitors gathered at the new IAA Mobility last week. Among them were car manufacturers, important players of the tech industry, numerous relevant companies of the supply industry and suppliers of micromobility products. As every time, we from magility were again active on site.
The new concept
This year, the IAA Mobility presented itself in Munich for the first time in a completely new way. Very ambitious, hybrid in presence and online version, as well as in a B2B and a B2C version. The B2B section was located on the exhibition grounds themselves, while the B2C area was placed in the center of the city. Many areas could be visited free of charge on Munich’s most popular squares, even without a ticket. Those who were not there in person were able to experience the show digitally via IAA Mobility’s new virtual platform.
The demonstrators
In particular, the squares in the city were protected by massive police presence. There has not been a larger police contingent in Germany since the 2017 G20 Summit in Hamburg. Numerous demonstrators gathered at different squares and demanded a turn away from the still car-dominated traffic policy. They stood up for pedestrian, bicycle and local traffic, abseiled from highway bridges, organized a bicycle star ride as well as pedestrian demonstrations or took part in a so-called protest camp on the Theresienwiese. Demonstrators accused the makers of the IAA Mobility of being nothing more than a platform for the image polish of politics and business.
Our impression – magility on site
During our walk around the fair, we could already clearly see the transition from a pure car show to a mobility exhibition. Different vehicle solutions and forms of mobility have found their way into the trade fair. The new IAA Mobility is no longer a pure car show where OEMs present their cars with powerful combustion engines. Only a few vehicles with combustion engines were to be found at the fair, but unfortunately also almost no exhibitors from abroad. The IAA Mobility is supposed to become a networking event and a platform for cooperation as well as for new business models, micro-mobility and urban policy. Under one roof, or one sky, many players came together to shape the mobility of the future.
In her opening speech at the IAA, Chancellor Merkel spoke of a real quantum leap compared to the last IAA. The networking of all forms of mobility was clearly the focus. In addition to the automakers, numerous suppliers, tech startups, bicycle brands and other micro-mobility providers with new offerings bustled around the exhibition areas. On different stages, there were discussions and lectures about the new forms of mobility, and everything related to them. It was also about the cities of the future, about cyber security, about traffic concepts and, of course, about the further advancement of networking.
A tangible vision of the city of the future, climate-neutral, without noise and congestion and with a multimodal and safe traffic concept, has not yet emerged for us at the fair. Due to the very ambitious, future-oriented and decentralized concept and due to the integration of the numerous forms of locomotion, one sometimes felt a bit lost in the large halls or on the streets. The path taken by the makers of the IAA Mobility is a first small step in the right direction and, from magility’s point of view, has great potential for the future. As is well known, transformation away from the tried-and-true to the experimental new never runs smoothly and requires support from experts who can combine the old and the new in a meaningful way.
The biggest weakness of the current concept is the inadequate implementation of the B2B concept. As in the old days, almost all exhibitors have sent pure sales teams to the trade show booths. However, there is a lack of qualified developers and buyers to bring the B2B concept to real life.
The car manufacturers
Electric vehicles clearly dominate the show floor at IAA Mobility. The industry has realized that it needs to rethink and the politically prescribed framework conditions seem to be taking effect. We were able to find only a few vehicles with classic combustion engines at the IAA. This effect is already reflected in the registration statistics of the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA, 2020), which records a total of 25% of registrations for the e-vehicle and hybrid segments. This is almost on a par with diesel (28%), while gasoline still clearly leads with 47% of registrations. The OEMs are therefore perfectly capable of meeting current demand.
The principle of “more sustainable, smarter, shared economy” is increasingly replacing the old principle of “faster, stronger and wider”. At the IAA Mobility, this development has not yet taken hold in the OEM passenger cars on display. For potential buyers from the cross-section of the German population, the range of offers there is still inadequate. According to a study by Statista on the willingness of the German population to spend on the purchase of a passenger car in 2020, only about 6% of the population who planned to buy a new car in 2020 wanted to invest more than €25,000 in this purchase.
The only car at the show with a purchase price below €25,000 was VW’s ID.Life, although according to Volkswagen brand boss Ralf Brandstätter, it will not be available on the market until 2025. So we looked in vain for available electric vehicles for the mass market at the IAA Mobility, as well as hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Internationality was sorely missed at the IAA and should be restored at subsequent trade shows. In addition, the IAA Mobility does not cover the complete range of mobility, because motorcycles, air cabs, hyperloops, electric planes, supersonic aircrafts and spaceships are missing.
Our conclusion: IAA Mobility 2021 was, as always, exciting and at the same time already very different from the past. But for it to be sustainable, it needs to change a lot more. The direction is right, the design still needs significant corrective loops.
The suppliers
The suppliers moved much more into the center of attention at the IAA Mobility. The major suppliers (Tier1) met the automakers on an equal footing. This was quite different at the “old” IAA. Here, a clear shift is visible and the industry “behind” it is more visible. Among suppliers, too, the focus is clearly on electromobility and alternative drive technologies. Bosch, for example, announced at the IAA Mobility that electromobility would become the core business for the company in the future and presented the newly developed “eAxis“, which combines power electronics, electric motor and transmission into a single unit. Continental and Schaeffler also showed innovations around the topic of alternative drives at the trade show.
At the press conference, Wolf-Henning Scheider, Chief Executive Officer of the ZF Group, presented the ZF strategy “Next Generation Mobility. NOW“. He also presented the so-called “Modular eDrive Kit“, a modular construction kit consisting of coordinated components which, in addition to e-motors, also offers inverters, software, and various transmission options. According to Scheider, it bundles the entire expertise of the ZF e-mobility team in system solutions, components and software control in a flexible and modular platform. The consistent modular approach of the eDrive Kit is the optimal complement to the platform strategy of vehicle manufacturers. With the modular drive solution for purely electric passenger cars, ZF promises up to 50 percent shorter development times as well as high maturity levels. From compact cars to the premium segment, everything can be mapped.
The ZF example shows, as do Huawei, Schaeffler, Bosch, Tesla, and others, that the intelligence of future vehicles will be determined by a few, extremely powerful central computers such as the ZF ProAI. According to ZF, the ZF ProAI is the most flexible, scalable, and powerful automotive-grade supercomputer for the automotive industry, effectively becoming the source of vehicle intelligence.
The changeover process from conventional driveline technology to electromobility represents a massive qualification effort in the coming years, also for suppliers, who will have to adapt their services and products to the new requirements. From magility’s point of view, some suppliers are already well ahead of the vehicle manufacturers, while others will not survive this next evolutionary step.
The startups
Startups were much more in focus at the IAA Mobility compared to the last IAA. The startup booths were centrally located next to the big players in the industry and therefore very accessible to trade show visitors. They had the opportunity to network with investors, international partners and political representatives at the numerous networking events and to participate in master classes, discussion panels and lectures. The IAA Mobility Founders Day – a networking event – also reached progressive target groups of the IAA. Many of the most exciting developments came not from the established manufacturers, for example, but precisely from these new young companies and the startups. For example, Johann Jungwirth, Vice President of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) at Mobileye, announced a small sensation from the field of autonomous driving. Starting in 2022, a robot cab service is to be offered in Munich together with the car rental company Sixt, which is to operate without a safety driver. Approval has already been applied for. Tech startups are ahead of established providers, primarily due to their faster development cycles. Many startups from the ADAS sector were also represented at the show. So was Cognata, an Israeli company that offers full product lifecycle simulation for developers of ADAS and autonomous vehicles. We will report on these and other interesting startups at the IAA and their high-tech developments in another article.
Micromobility at the IAA
Cars were not the only focus of attention at this year’s IAA. Micromobility providers also got involved in the trade show action for the first time. Bicycles are in vogue, and even classic car manufacturers such as Porsche are getting involved in the micromobility-market: In cooperation with German bicycle manufacturer Storck Bicycle, Porsche has launched a new brand called Cyklaer. This brand offers fast e-bikes at Porsche’s price level. BMW is active in the cargo bike sector with its “Dynamic Cargo” concept, and VW is also involved with its “e-Bike Cargo” cargo bike, which is even due to be launched this year. Young companies and startups are also getting involved in the micromobility sector at this year’s IAA Mobility. We will report on this in a separate article.
Our conclusion
The path to climate-neutral mobility that is affordable and available to all is visibly progressing, even if there are still some long-established views and behaviors to be rethought along the way! The IAA Mobility has picked up on this trend and given a starting signal with the new concept. The design can be further developed and can move in a promising direction. This year, IAA Mobility was clearly focused on e-drives. ADAS and e-mobility topics were definitely the focus of the show. Suppliers of micro-mobility-products also made their mark at the show. It was also clear to us that the convergence of industries will play an even more important role in the future. Platform providers are now playing a major role in the automotive industry. Huawei in particular stood out to us with its end-to-end solution from the cloud to the vehicle architecture. So telecommunications companies are no longer just appearing on the sidelines in the automotive market. They are right in the middle of the action, and car manufacturers will have to dress warmly. For the next IAA in 2023, we at magility expect the topic of autonomous driving to move further into the spotlight of the trade show.
All in all, we look back on a very interesting trade fair and are already looking forward to the exciting development steps that will (have to) be taken through the mobility transformation by 2023. We are enthusiastically supporting the startups from our network in placing their high-tech developments in the right place at the right time here in Europe. For the industrial companies, we evaluate and review new innovative business models and accompany them during integration and market launch. With our experts in the field of electromobility and alternative drives, we also monitor this submarket. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
by Nada Welker | Aug 16, 2021 | Know-How and inspiration, Technologies for new markets
Kirchheim/Teck is a historic half-timbered town. The homogeneous effect of the old town can be traced back to a catastrophe: the town fire of August 3, 1690. In the years that followed, the people of Kirchheim accomplished an incredible feat of reconstruction. In a very short time they rebuilt their town from scratch. With the exception of the town hall, almost all of the historic buildings that can still be found in the town center today were built in the ten years between 1690 and 1700. Visitors appreciate the special flair of Kirchheim. Those who have been there once will gladly come back. Gastronomy, stores, the market, events such as the wine village or the summer night cinema in August – all these are signs of a lively tradition. In addition, there is the environment: The striking Teck Castle had already gone up in flames during the Peasants’ War in 1525. But in the 19th and 20th centuries, new buildings were erected on the old site and on old foundations. The Teck is a popular destination for excursions in the breathtaking low mountain landscape of the Swabian Alb. This offers ideal opportunities for recreation and for sporting activities – like hiking, running, cycling, climbing and also winter sports.
Max Eyth – a Kirchheimer provides innovations in the steam age
Tradition in Kirchheim has always included innovation. In the 19th century, the name Max Eyth stood for this: As a sales engineer for Fowler & Co. in Leeds, the native of Kirchheim was responsible for the fact that high tech from Europe was able to spread around the world at that time – steam plowing and cable shipping.
Both were the epitome of revolutionary technology at the time. To this day, there are always historical demonstrations of an old team of steam locomobiles in Kirchheim. They impress with solid mechanics that still work smoothly even after 150 years – albeit with a lot of hissing when steam is released.
Kirchheim’s innovative potential in the 21st century
In the 21st century, Kirchheim is once again demonstrating great innovative potential in a much quieter manner: Instead of large steam engines, the focus today is on smart solutions, sensors, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT). Digitization ensures global networking, even without necessarily having to travel around the world in person – as Max Eyth once did.
Dialog Semiconductor works from Kirchheim on the world of tomorrow
For example, a global player like Dialog Semiconductor has had its administrative headquarters in Kirchheim-Nabern for more than 30 years. Products, patents and employees of the semiconductor manufacturer from Kirchheim are so significant and so sought-after that even Apple acquired parts of the business unit at the end of 2018. The application-specific mixed-signal integrated circuits that Dialog Semiconductor has manufactured are used in multimedia and radio broadcasting as well as in mobile communications and the automotive industry.
Whether wireless charging, data storage and logging, building and factory automation or even networked medicine – Dialog Semiconductor is already working from Kirchheim on the world of tomorrow.
Lehner Sensorsysteme reads the communication of plants
Lehner Sensorsysteme, based in Kirchheim unter Teck, is already presenting the “world of sensor technology of tomorrow”. Sensors for medical technology, for the graphics industry or for special machines have been among the innovative products of the Kirchheim-based company – also for more than 30 years. In the meantime, Managing Director Dr. Lars Lehner has tapped into yet another industry: biotechnology. Similar to Max Eyth in the 19th century, Lehner is in the process of revolutionizing agriculture – but not with the mighty power of large steam engines. Rather, the sensors get up close to the individual plant and analyze its needs. The signals that are intercepted are those that travel within the plant from bottom to top or even from top to bottom, i.e. those that convey information between root, stem, leaf, flower or fruit. By meticulously evaluating extensive data, these signals can be used to identify the needs of the plants and the stresses they are suffering from. In this way, temperature, light, water and nutrients can be precisely regulated in line with the actual needs of the plant, which it communicates internally. Even an impending pest infestation or a disease of the plant can be read out from the data provided by the sensors – long before this damage becomes visible to the farmer or gardener. Once the pest or disease is seen, it is usually already too late to take countermeasures. The sensors from Kirchheim, on the other hand, provide timely information on when the plant needs to be protected and against what. Smart sensor technology – made in Kirchheim – therefore secures the future of agriculture.
Pragmatic industries lets machines talk to people
The “rounding out” is provided by pragmatic industries GmbH from Kirchheim, which Dr. Julian Feinauer founded in 2017. If Lehner continues Max Eyth’s work in agriculture, among other things, and “translates” it into the 21st century, pragmatic industries takes on the machines and listens into them. It’s about “using data intelligently and exploiting its full potential – to strengthen SMEs in international competition through forward-looking measurement data management.” The “Digital Cockpit” from pragmatic industries brings Industry 4.0 to the machinery of every manufacturer. It enables “all machine and production data to be stored, evaluated and visualized”. This means that changes can be reacted to quickly and processes can be continuously improved. The “Digital Cockpit” therefore takes a very similar approach to the plant sensors from Lehner GmbH: It “increasingly focuses on communication between people and machines“. This also involves the meticulous evaluation of extensive data. As Lehner does for agriculture, pragmatic industries does for mechanical engineering the laborious work of “tapping the data for each machine” and then “creating meaningful analyses.” The aim is to “identify and understand the interrelationships, especially in complex physical or chemical production processes with a large number of influencing variables”.
With magility, you can hear “the grass grow”
Magility GmbH from Kirchheim always keeps an eye on all these developments. It provides consulting services to many innovative companies – especially in the automotive, mechanical engineering and construction sectors. Innovation and networking are important components for successfully accompanying and continuing the transformation of industry. The Internet of Things also includes cyber security, which magility has paid special attention to from the very beginning. Here, too, threats must be identified through in-depth analysis so that they can be countered in good time. Magility’s approach to the Internet of Things is similar to that of the plant sensors or the “digital cockpit”: the task is to identify developments at an early stage and – long before they become visible to everyone – to pick them up by sensors or almost seismographically. Listening to how the grass grows: this has always been a metaphor for getting ahead through know-how. Magility is offering this know-how and is thus in the best Kirchheim tradition.
by Nada Welker | Apr 26, 2021 | Automotive Industry, New Mobility, Technologies for new markets
Convergences should secure demanding and solvent customers
The term convergence is on everyone’s lips. Because on the one hand, digitized vehicles open up an almost unlimited market of services in the field of mobility. In the case of motor vehicles, this ranges from the constantly self-expanding safety system, as Tesla is doing by means of data networks, to built-in game consoles and to artificial intelligence and autonomous driving. On the other hand, car manufacturers are also forced to convince customers, who are strongly courted and demanding in many ways, of the value of their respective brands with ever more efficient products and attractive service offers. Those who can adorn themselves with the names of global companies such as Apple, Microsoft or Google by cooperating with them or acquiring shares in them hope to secure the brand-conscious and financially strong generation of tomorrow.
Convergences with IT giants are often billion-dollar deals
The emphasis is on the word “solvent”. Because everyone wants to earn: IT providers often let themselves be paid billions for their cooperation with car manufacturers. According to inside-it, VW will invest around 27 billion euros in digitalisation in general by 2025.
Microsoft and Google provide know-how for cash
According to VW’s head of software Dirk Hilgenberg, Microsoft is to help to accelerate the provision of applications in cloud computing and software engineering. Cloud services from Microsoft are to be used for this. VW is also interested in Microsoft’s developments in the field of artificial intelligence. The Wolfsburg-based carmaker’s quid pro quo remains monetary, as Scott Guthrie, vice-president of Microsoft Cloud, points out; his company does not get access to VW’s data.
Ford has also entered into a 6-year connected driving collaboration with internet giant Google in the first quarter of 2021. Google is to become the central provider of cloud services for Ford. In addition, the infotainment systems are to run on Android as the operating system from 2023. Ford’s own Sync. software, which ran Ford’s infotainment systems until now, will be dissolved. When announcing the cooperation, Ford manager David McClelland referred to Google’s expertise in machine learning and artificial intelligence and also emphasised that Google would not receive any data from Ford customers for further use.
[infobox headline=”Summary in a nutshell”]
- Convergences open up an almost unlimited market in the field of mobility.
- Mergers with IT giants cost carmakers a lot of cash.
- Car manufacturers hope that by cooperating with IT giants, some of the latter’s attention will spill over to them.
- Some car manufacturers do not further develop their own operating systems and instead rely on cooperations. Others go the opposite way and rely on the further development of their own operating systems in order to be able to exist independently on the market.
- Industry benefits from the innovative impulses of high-tech startups.
- magility networks companies with technology experts from all over the world.
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Cooperations are good – independence is better?
Even though the German car companies have just jumped on the bandwagon of convergence and are looking for cooperation with software developers – it does not seem to be in their nature to renounce independence in the long run. Daimler and VW are currently working flat out on their own operating systems with which they can survive on the market in the future without the intervention of Amazon or Google.
Experts from three corporate brands are developing a new operating system
At VW, the child already has a name: VW.OS is being developed by around 5000 experts from VW, Porsche and Audi. For this purpose, the company Car.Software.Org was newly founded, whose number of employees is to double again in the next four years.
From smartphone to electric vehicle
Meanwhile, one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers is starting up in China. Xiaomi is entering the smart electric vehicle business. Founder and CEO Lei Jun wants to invest around 10 billion dollars in a subsidiary over the next ten years to compete against rivals in a market that, according to Dan Ives, an analyst at investment firm Wedbush, will be worth 5 trillion dollars over the next ten years. Compared to that, the other products in Xiaomi’s belly shop look like peanuts. The Chinese giant makes electric toothbrushes and razors, light bulbs, watches, surveillance cameras and scooters on the side.
Convergences – Startups get in on the act
In addition to classic convergences, start-ups with their high-tech developments are increasingly playing a leading role in the industrial markets. Entire startup-driven industry segments are increasingly emerging. According to Speedinvest, investments in so-called “industrial tech companies” have increased almost ninefold across Europe from 2014 to 2020. For many years, we at magility have been accompanying high-tech startups as they enter the EMEA market. Our clients from industry benefit from the innovative impulses of our high-tech start-ups. We bring together traditional companies with the right technologies and specialists from the high-tech world. Feel free to contact us if you would like to expand your international network in line with your company’s business model. We at magility will be happy to help you.
