Silicon Valley News Update
Week Ending April 21, 2017
This week we saw some interesting developments across the Automotive ecosystem and beyond. Some are some key highlights:
- Continental puts the future in motion with new research and development center in Silicon Valley. Read More
- Honda is turning its Silicon Valley lab into a global hub for tech collaboration. Read More
- Lyft raises $600M at $7.5B valuation. Read More
- General Motors to build $14M, 1,100-worker driverless car R&D center. Read More
- Luminar makes lidar sensors to help self-driving cars see farther. Read More
- Analog Devices and Renesas collaborate to offer radar sensors. Read More
- Lucid Motors bids to become newest Silicon Valley automotive upstart. Read More
- Delphi takes stake in companies to profit from data in connected cars. Read More
- Uber reportedly used secret program to track Lyft drivers. Read More
- Cadillac has a secret weapon in its quest to beat Tesla at self-driving. Read More
- Argus Cyber Security, Bosch Group partner to mitigate car hacking. Read More
- Volvo to build its first fully-electric car in China. Read More
HMP Commentary:
Lyft has just raised $600 million from investors and that bumps up its valuation to $7.5 billion; as a result, this brings total funding to $2.61 billion. The Silicon Valley ecosystem is dramatically evolving and changing: Continental has opened its new Research and Development Center located in San Jose, CA and General Motors is investing $14 million into a facility and plans to create a thousand jobs in the Silicon Valley to advance its self-driving car interests. Honda is also upgrading its Silicon Valley Lab into a new global unit.
Analog Devices and Renesas Electronics Corporation announced their collaboration on a new radar sensor that will offer better processing capabilities and reduce risks in ADAS applications. Delphi Automotive is taking minority stakes in several privately held companies in order to place investments in the data collected from cars connected to the Internet. The collaboration between Argus Cyber Security and Bosch is taking immediate action in regards to automotive security vulnerabilities. Luminar is emerging into the self-driving industry introducing new LIDAR sensors while Lucid Motors, the California-based electric vehicle company is developing a new electric car trying to become the next Tesla. Cadillac is getting ready to introduce its hands-free driving system to the public and Volvo has been working to develop a new line of electric and hybrid vehicles.
The new Lyft funding and its valuation are again demonstrating a major change to this new automotive paradigm in the Silicon Valley and renforcing the fact that the Bay Area has a new importance and is playing a major part in this new equation.
About Harvest Management Partners LLC:
Harvest Management Partners LLC is a Silicon Valley based investment bank, specializing in company financial assessment, advisory services, plan of action development, strategic marketing, and worldwide negotiation of mergers and acquisitions. Since 2010, Harvest Management Partners has assisted over 40 technology clients within the software, semiconductor, security, IP and automotive electronics sectors. They are also the exclusive Silicon Valley advisors for Fiat Chrysler Automotive (NYSE: FCAU) and TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL). With a combined history of 60+ years of direct operational experience and relationships with venture capitalists and C-Level executives worldwide, Harvest Management Partners is well positioned to provide a comprehensive set of unique services for their clients. For more information, visit www.harvestmp.com