Jon Lauckner - GM Vice President and President General Motors Ventures, LLC,
In an effort to “help identify and develop innovative technologies in the automotive/transportation sector,” General Motors has created venture capital (VC) subsidiary. Named General Motors Ventures, LLC, the subsidiary will be headed by Jon J. Lauckner, who – effective July 1 – was named GM Vice President and President, General Motors Ventures, LLC. Lauckner will report to GM Vice Chairman of Corporate Strategy and New Business Stephen J. Girsky.
According to Girsky, GM is constantly on a lookout “for ways to deliver the best technology for our consumers.” As such, the goal of the VC subsidiary is to “nurture these innovative technologies to help bring them to market, and to ensure our customers have access to the best technology available.” GM Ventures LLC has received an initial funding investment of $100 million and is on its way in exploring equity investments in a number of auto-related technologies and business models.
The GM Authority Take
This is one of GM’s best ideas in – dare I say – ever! The automotive space is currently dominated by a few large and medium-sized firms and this tends to discourage entrepreneurial spirit that is so important for innovation to occur. By establishing GM Ventures, The General will be able to invest in startups that take a different approach to automotive development and engineering facets. Perhaps the next big thing in the automotive sector will be a firm in which GM Ventures was an investor. Most importantly, GM will most likely be able to integrate many GM Ventures-funded technologies and innovations into its own products, thereby developing a competitive advantage in the automotive sector. A few other manufacturers are running similar initiatives, but none as bold as this.
Catch GM’s full presser after the jump.
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