Mercedes-Benz targets Windsor for automotive innovation centre

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Windsor will be home to one of three incubators in Ontario created by a partnership between German automaker Mercedes-Benz and the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network, the province has announced.

The partnership will focus on startup creation and developing talent in North America to aid the commercialization of automotive innovation.

“Windsor is known as a town where we make things, but I think this is a vote of confidence that Windsor is a town where ideas start and they turn into technology,” said OVIN head Raed Kadri.

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“That technology turns into companies and those companies become the suppliers of the future.”

The OVIN incubators, which Premier Doug Ford helped announce on Oct. 8, will focus on the areas of software, artificial intelligence, battery development, vehicle components and electric drive.

Kadri said last week that Windsor was one of the three sites selected to launch the program because of its obvious strengths in automotive manufacturing, the advanced state of the new EV supply chain being built and because it can serve as a lighthouse to project the province’s status as player in the future of automotive across the border.

“Innovation is part of Mercedes-Benz DNA,” Markus Schäfer, Mercedes-Benz Group AG’s chief technology officer, development and procurement, said in a statement.

“In our global (research and development) strategy, open innovation gives us rapid and direct access to the latest ideas and developments around the world.

“In a fast-paced environment, it is another important channel for developing exciting future products and elevating our customer experience through new technologies.”

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Mercedes will support identified startups and projects through its specialist expertise and use cases. Selected projects will also gain access to the international Mercedes-Benz ‘Startup Autobahn’ network.

Startup Autobahn, founded in 2016, is an open innovation platform for startups in the field of mobility. It already has programs in the United States, China, India and South Korea.

“I think this is a vote of confidence in the innovation that lives within Windsor,” said Kadri, a Windsor native. “It’s a vote of confidence in the talent that lives in Windsor and a vote of confidence that Windsor is a part of the global ecosystem.”

Just the start of bigger things to come

Kadri added Mercedes has committed to having people come through each of the communities to help launch the incubators and to connect them back within the Mercedes hierarchy.

“This is just the start of bigger things to come,” Kadri said. “There are more big names and companies that are going to be involved that we will be announcing soon.

“This is an opportunity to create the platform to create and commercialize the leading edge of intellectual property, turn it into startups and lift them into the global supply chain.”

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This latest partnership adds another piece to the plan to make the local area Canada’s automobility capital, said Ed Dawson, executive director of automobility and innovation at Invest WindsorEssex.

“This fits perfectly and provides more opportunity to build on the investments the province (and Ottawa have) made here in Windsor-Essex,” said Dawson, who oversees one of seven OVIN regional technology centres.

“It’s helping us build an end-to-end supply for zero-emission vehicles. They (Mercedes and OVIN) see this as a great region to do that.

“It puts a flag in the ground that we are Canada’s automobility capital and it adds research and development opportunities to go along with manufacturing.”

In addition to Windsor, Mercedes-OVIN will have incubators in Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto.

In its pilot phase, the OVIN incubators program will identify opportunities relevant to Mercedes-Benz research.

The company will also have a research collaboration with the University of Waterloo focused on the development of algorithms for advanced driving assistance systems.

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Dawson said OVIN will have boots on the ground locally to oversee the program and expects there’ll be a lot of collaboration with post-secondary institutions and local organizations such as WEtech Alliance and Invest WindsorEssex to funnel potential companies and projects to Mercedes.

“It’s essentially trying to bridge the gap from doing research or trying to build a startup and getting in front of someone who can help you commercialize it and create intellectual property,” Dawson said.

“What we can do, as a regional OVIN technology site, is make those connections and introductions for the people we’re working with.”

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