Renault and Nissan have inaugurated their joint innovation lab in Tel Aviv at Atidim Park, where the two companies are aiming to create a unique model of collaboration with Israeli startups and an exclusive partnership with the Israel Innovation Authority.
Badged as the Alliance Innovation Lab Tel Aviv, the facility will be a hub for development of sensors for autonomous driving, cybersecurity and big data. The Alliance is currently testing and working on over 10 joint prototyping projects with Israeli startups at different stages. Among them are Apollo Power; Argus; AutoTalks; BrightWay Vision; Electreon; Enigmatos; IRP systems; Karamba; Moodify; Saferide; and Upstream.
Covering an area of 1,600m², it features modern office spaces and full vehicle testing areas. The lab’s location in Atidim Park is ideal for testing proof of concepts (POC) and prototypes in Tel Aviv’s smart city experiment zone.
“With Israel as a global innovation hub, particularly with automotive technology, this new lab is a natural next step for us and will allow the Alliance to leverage the strengths of Israel’s startup ecosystem,” said Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, Alliance EVP, engineering. “Through collaborations with promising local startups with cutting-edge technologies, we aim to develop a variety of key technologies, which will be essential for the future of mobility.”
Antoine Basseville, director of the Alliance Innovation Lab Tel Aviv, said, “The opening of this new facility is a special milestone for us. It is part of the Alliance’s growing engagement in the Israeli ecosystem, after setting-up the local innovation lab. We believe that the new facility, the Alliance partnerships with the Israel Innovation Authority, the municipality and university of Tel Aviv, will contribute to create a comprehensive mobility ecosystem in Atidim in a wide array of fields.”
As a selected operator of the Israel Innovation Authority’s Technological Innovation Labs program, the lab will offer funding to startups for POCs.
The lab will also work in close cooperation with Alliance Ventures, the Alliance corporate venture capital fund that plans to invest up to US$1bn over five years in startups, early-stage technology companies and entrepreneurial talents and has already invested in Maniv Mobility fund in Israel.