NOVI, Mich., Dec. 12, 2018
/PRNewswire/ -- Stoneridge, Inc. (NYSE: SRI) has announced an
investment in a fund managed by Autotech Ventures ("Autotech"), a
venture capital firm focused on ground transportation technology
located in Menlo Park, California. The $10 million total investment, which will be
contributed over the expected 10-year life of the fund, is expected
to provide the Company with increased visibility to early-stage
companies.
Laurent Borne, Chief Technology
Officer for Stoneridge commented, "We are excited to announce our
partnership with Autotech and our investment in their next
fund. We believe that a presence in Silicon Valley will help
us identify and invest in opportunities that will drive the future
of ground transportation. We look forward to working with the
Autotech team and their current and future portfolio companies to
accelerate our innovation pipeline, build on our existing portfolio
and continue to refine our product roadmap to align with industry
megatrends."
Stoneridge's portfolio of smart products focuses on the
megatrends in the transportation industry including intelligence,
safety and security, emissions and fuel efficiency.
In addition to potential financial returns, Autotech provides
corporate investors with access to broad deal flow, co-investment
opportunities in the fund's startups and related consultation on
startup relationships and early-stage technology
opportunities.
Autotech's current portfolio includes investments in Deepscale,
a provider of sensor fusion perception solutions for autonomous
vehicles, Metawave, a provider of metamaterial antennas for high
precision, long-range ADAS and autonomous vehicle radar, XNOR.AI, a
provider of fast, accurate, low-power and low-memory AI algorithms
for edge devices and Lyft, an online peer-to-peer ridesharing
marketplace.
Jon DeGaynor, President and CEO
of Stoneridge added, "We will utilize this relationship to drive
organic development activities as well as inorganic opportunities
for the Company. We expect this investment to drive tangible
benefits for our shareholders through a return on our invested
capital, acceleration of our long-term strategic plan and expansion
of our technical
capabilities."
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release contain "forward-looking
statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements include statements regarding the
intent, belief or current expectations of the Company with respect
to the Company's investment in Autotech. Forward-looking statements
may be identified by the words "will," "may," "should," "designed
to," "believes," "plans," "projects," "intends," "expects,"
"estimates," "anticipates," "continue," and similar words and
expressions. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to
differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the
statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements
include, among other factors:
- a significant change in automotive, commercial, off-highway,
motorcycle or agricultural vehicle production;
- competitive market conditions and resulting effects on sales
and pricing;
- customer acceptance of new products;
- our ability to successfully launch/produce products for awarded
business;
- adverse changes in laws, government regulations or market
conditions, including tariffs, affecting our products or our
customers' products;
- our ability to protect our intellectual property and
successfully defend against assertions made against us;
- the ability of our suppliers to supply us with parts and
components at competitive prices on a timely basis, including the
impact of potential tariffs and trade considerations on their
operations and output;
- the failure to achieve the successful integration of any
acquired company or business;
- risks related to a failure of our information technology
systems and networks, and risks associated with current and
emerging technology threats and damage from computer viruses,
unauthorized access, cyber-attack and other similar disruptions;
and
- the items described in Part I, Item IA ("Risk Factors") of our
10-K filed with the SEC.
About Stoneridge, Inc.
Stoneridge, Inc., headquartered
in Novi, Michigan, is an
independent designer and manufacturer of highly engineered
electrical and electronic components, modules and systems
principally for the automotive, commercial vehicle, motorcycle,
agricultural and off-highway vehicle markets. Additional
information about Stoneridge can be found at
www.stoneridge.com.
About Autotech Ventures
Autotech Ventures aims to
generate financial returns by helping passionate entrepreneurs to
deploy revolutionary transportation technologies and business
models. Autotech provides startups with capital, ground
transportation market intelligence, and access to their
transportation sector network which includes corporate investors
representing a global market capitalization of over $500B. As a lead or follower investor,
Autotech leverages deep industry network to help our portfolio
companies recruit transportation-specific talent and engage
corporations as their scale-up partners.
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SOURCE Stoneridge, Inc.