10 Swiss Startups Shaping Vehicles & Autonomous Transport
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The cars of the future rely on several advanced technologies. We unbundle the car to see what they are and which companies are driving them forward. We define autotech as software or hardware improving the safety, convenience, or efficiency of cars, including assisted and autonomous driving, driver safety tools, connected data, fleet telematics, vehicle-to-vehicle communication and cybersecurity.
Let’s take a closer look at the many technologies that make the future car possible and map out the startups looking to make it more advanced, less costly and easier to scale:
3db Access has developed a vehicle-locking system using Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology, which will reduce car-theft by closing the security weakness of current keys. The Zurich-based startup has already won two major customers. The company won Venture Leaders and Venture Kick.
Advancing lightweight design, thanks to 3D carbon fiber printing technology. Conventional methods of manufacturing carbon fiber materials, which have extraordinarily high strength-to-weight ratios, are expensive and limit the potential intricacy of geometric designs. 9T Labs’ 3D printer uses the latest sensor technology to offer a new material process that gives engineers manufacturing flexibility and preserves the high quality of the finished parts. In the automotive sector, this lowers the cost and time to produce technical spare parts. The company won Venture Leaders and ranked at the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award.
Bcomp, whose high-performance natural-fiber materials reduce the weight and cost of vehicle interiors and bodywork, has already enjoyed product collaborations with Tesla, Volvo and Yamaha. The company's more economical and more ecological components are also safer, than traditional engineering materials, as they don't shatter with sharp edges. The company won Venture Leaders, Venture Kick and ranked at the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award.
The maker of software to manage fleets of vehicles driven by machines or humans, won acceptance for driverless buses among the Swiss public through its 2016 pilot with the country's biggest bus company. Those shuttle-loop services in Sion, Switzerland, have grown to recent trials in Strasbourg, France. The company won Venture Leaders and ranked at the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award.
Makes software that lets autonomous vehicles park tightly, drive economically or race to their limits! The five-year-old company, which developed its business with Volkswagen, uses physics and proprietary algorithms, instead of AI, to guarantee road safety no matter the situation. The company won Venture Leaders and ranked at the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award.
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