We summarise our findings from the analysis of global investments in connectivity, autonomous driving, smart mobility and electrification. Read more.
The current and future – partly disruptive – trends in the automotive industry / the personal mobility space have attracted substantial interest with financial and strategic investors:
- Since 2010, US$ 163 bn have been invested in start-up companies active in the so-called C.A.S.E. segments (Connectivity, Autonomous driving, Smart mobility, Electrification), most of the funding after 2013
- Smart mobility has attracted the largest funding (55%), but electrification (32%) and autonomous driving (10%) have raised increasing funds especially after 2015 (whilst smart mobility has lower investments since 2017)
- Asian/Chinese and North American start-ups have received 95% of all funds, Europe has fallen short dramatically, capturing 3% of funding
- Asia/China has attracted the largest funds for smart mobility whilst North America is the leading place for autonomous driving systems
- Funding has been largely concentrated on a few leading players: 31 C.A.S.E. start-up companies have received 80% of all funding; the top ten players account for 60% of all funding
- Among the top 10 companies, four are based in Asia/China and six in North America; focus is on ride-hailing, new EV OEMs and autonomous driving systems; none of those are based in Europe
In summary, new mobility start-ups have received funds, which give them the financial means to substantially impact the automotive industry, especially in the fields of smart mobility, autonomous driving and electrification.
The enormous momentum with C.A.S.E.-related start-ups has by-passed Europe, which is a fundamental issue. Substantial corporate investments and stronger engagement in these new topics are needed for Europe to not lose connection to evolving mobility trends.
