Valeo invests in Cathay Capital to drive innovative start-ups

Automotive supplier Valeo has announced a 22 million euro (Rs 168 crore) investment in the Cathay Capital Sino French Innovation Fund that was inaugurated today at an official launch ceremony in Beijing, China.

The fund is a new cross-border investment vehicle active across France, China and the United States and is dedicated to venture capital financing for innovative start-ups. This investment is in line with a partnership between Valeo and Cathay Capital which will allow Valeo to increase its cooperation with innovative start-ups in the three geographies of the Fund.

As a company engaged in developing driving assistance systems, Valeo is developing technologies to make the car more autonomous, connected and intuitive. The company says its cooperation with Cathay Capital will reinforce its access to the most innovative technologies and trends coming from the entrepreneurial world.

“The cooperation with Cathay Capital will bring a new brick to our decade-long policy of ‘Open Innovation’ that aims at supporting the integration and growth in the automotive sector of innovative technologies coming from academic or entrepreneurial networks. The partnership with Cathay will provide us with new opportunities to interact with innovative startups, in three key geographies for the Group: China, Europe and the United States, in a context where the automobile is becoming more and more digital and connected,” said Valeo CEO Jacques Aschenbroich.

In 2014, the Group generated sales of 12.7 billion euros (Rs 97,078 crore) and invested over 10 percent of its original equipment sales in research and development. Valeo has 136 plants, 16 research centres, 34 development centres, 15 distribution platforms and employs 81,800 people in 29 countries worldwide.