Volvo Incubator Will Nurture Urban Technology Solutions

Volvo Group is opening its fourth start-up incubator hub as it bids to advance its capabilities in new technologies and sustainable mobility solutions.

Its latest CampX hub has opened in Lyon, France, joining the existing hubs in Sweden, India and the U.S. Under the CampX concept, start-ups with promising technologies for electric and autonomous vehicles and digital solutions are invited to collaborate with Volvo’s chief engineers and business experts, during short validation projects at the hubs.

The project also offers an ecosystem where start-ups in an earlier phase are provided with mentoring, networks and business insights by Volvo experts. The automaker says participating start-ups can validate their ideas and test them out at laboratories, workshops and in test vehicles.

The first hub was launched in 2019 in Gothenburg, Sweden, and was later joined by others in the main Volvo Group R&D sites in Bangalore, India; Greensboro, SC, in the U.S.; and now Lyon near the headquarters of Renault Trucks.

CampX Lyon will focus mainly on decarbonization, urban logistics and uptime services to support customer needs and consider the challenges posed by growing city environments.

Across all four of the CampX sites, engineers from Volvo will work on a variety of global projects. The automaker is hoping that “by using a demand-driven approach for new technology and business innovations,” the time spent on product and strategy development can be significantly reduced.

Lars Stenqvist, chief technology officer at Volvo Group, says: “Climate change is by far the biggest challenge of our generation. At the same time, demand for transport and infrastructure continues to grow and we must be able to meet this demand with sustainable mobility solutions.

“Volvo Group is therefore committed to the decarbonization of the transport industry by developing innovative technologies within electrification, automation and digitalization. CampX is our strategic engine to boost this transformation through partnerships with innovating startups.”