Developing Future Transportation Solutions in the Enterprise Ecosystem with Driventure!

ford otosan driventure
gül ertuğ

Gül Ertuğ Mali İşler Lideri

I am happy to announce that we have launched a very exciting initiative in line with our vision of “Being Turkey's most valuable and preferred industrial company”.

The future is electric and connected new generation commercial projects. In line with this insight, we have established Driventure to find and grow new ideas and technologies that will shape the future of the automotive industry and the world of mobility. With Driventure, we aim to create strategic value with technological initiatives that will strengthen the future of our company.

Technology is forging ahead at an unpredictable speed. The way to succeed in the new mobility and smart production environment is for companies to adapt quickly to this change and adopt new applications. In line with this vision, we say “Drive us to the Future” with Driventure; and closely follow the entrepreneurial ecosystem internally, nationally and globally.

In this article, I will introduce Driventure to you in detail. I will also talk about the next generation route optimization platform 'Optiyol', which will start its adventures in the sector with Driventure investments, and 'Bluedot', the smart mobility solution for electric vehicles.

What is Driventure, at its Simplest?

We define Driventure as a joint-stock company where we will invest in and partner in innovative technological initiatives working on projects that will serve us strategically. Another goal of ours with Driventure is to provide incubation support for innovative ideas that may arise from our company and to accelerate their implementation.

I will serve as a member and general manager of our Driventure board of management. Other names in the management team of our board are as follows: Our Chairman of the Board Haydar Yenigün, our Deputy Chairman of the Board Dave Johnson and our Executive Board Member Oğuz Toprakoğlu. Our investment committee consists of our String Venture Founding Partner Can Saraçoğlu and Ford Otosan Smart Technologies & Innovation Manager Güner Demirural.

The Future is within Smart Transportation Technologies

Not being able to adapt to the transportation and transport sector's rapidly changing dynamics means you are falling behind. With Driventure, we carry our company forward to the future by creating new-generation technologies and applications in the sector. We designed our Driventure initiative as an environment where creative minds in the sector can come together and benefit from our company's vast experience. In pursuit of the future's smart transportation and transport technologies, we have examined with Driventure more than 300 start-ups both nationally and internationally.

Our mission with Driventure is to actualize the technologies that will shape the future of the sector. In line with this goal, we want talented names and teams both locally and globally to benefit from our broad experience and opportunities. We have a dream for the future; and with Driventure, we are one step closer!

driventure investmentOur Driventure Investment Focus Areas

With our Driventure initiative; we have specifically focused on some verticals to generate strategic value. We explore technology in these areas and are interested in investment opportunities. Speaking of the 6 investment areas that we put forward:

  • Smart Mobility: Smart sustainable solutions that meet the transportation needs of metropolises.
  • Connected Vehicles: Technologies that connect to the cloud system to transmit data, receive data, upload updates; and as the technological infrastructure develops; to communicate with other vehicles in traffic and transportation infrastructure and to create value from data.
  • Autonomous Vehicles: Advanced driving support solutions with self-driving vehicles, lidar cameras and detection algorithms.
  • Industry 4.0: Integrated value chain solutions to handle the processes from order to delivery that are self-learning with intelligent automation.
  • Electrification: Environmentalist, sustainable solutions that minimize CO2 and emissions.
  • New Customer Experiences: Mobile and/or digital solutions that meet users' changing transportation needs and demands in a swift, sustainable and flexible way.

In line with our areas of focus in investment, we went on to explore technologies in Turkey and Europe, and especially in Eastern Europe, Israel and Silicon Valley, all of which highly value entrepreneurship. We aim to contact as many start-ups as possible by regularly exchanging information with our innovation hubs within Ford Motor Company in London and Tel Aviv.

driventure entreprenuersWhat Do We Offer to Entrepreneurs with Driventure?

With Driventure, we are accelerating the journey of flourishing businesses by incorporating new initiatives and new generation formations into our company's ecosystem. With this strategic partnership; new ventures have the chance to benefit from our company's brand value, while they develop by using our know-how as a resource in every subject. If you are wondering how the Driventure adventure of entrepreneurs is shaped, I believe you will have a broad understanding of the process in your mind when you take a look at the items below.

  • First of all, we incorporate the startups we are interested in into our company's ecosystem. If their project is at the stage of the prototype, we give the chance to prove the concept; if they have created products at a more advanced stage, we accelerate their journey by implementing the value proposition within our company's use case, providing benefits such as access to scale economy, market and segment.
  • Entrepreneurs can take advantage of our automotive know-how and get mentorship from competent engineers of Turkey’s largest R&D automotive center.
  • If we can have a mutual understanding of strategic benefits with the entrepreneurs, we invest in them.

Now I would like to briefly introduce you to two projects we have implemented with Driventure: Optiyol and Bluedot.

optiyol a next-generation route optimization solutionA Next-Generation Route Optimization Solution: Optiyol

As a new generation route optimization solution, Optiyol offers efficient and practical route plans. Optiyol works as a platform that integrates driver preferences, business strategies, changes in demand and traffic. Of course, the benefits that Optiyol will offer for our company are many; but in the first stage; we envisage the use of Optiyol solutions will be in Ford Trucks and final delivery solutions.

bluedot ev charging solutionsEV Charging Solutions: Bluedot

Another important investment of ours, Bluedot, is a smart mobility solution platform that brings together electric vehicle drivers and charging stations. Bluedot will essentially offer a strategic opportunity as a smart mobility solution for our company's electric vehicle customers.

We Will Shape the Future of the Sector with Driventure

Innovation never ends at Ford Otosan, as you can see, we strive to sustain our vision of leading the future in every field. The automotive sector is a substantial business - quite open to innovation and development. It is one of the areas where technological transformation is experienced in the fast lane. That is why we always look from the broadest perspective.

Please visit our corporate website if you would like to know more about Driventure.

As Ford Otosan, I believe that we can develop very valuable new business models and opportunities with Driventure. To actualize this; we have all the infrastructure and knowledge. Innovations and investments, as ever, are to carry on in our company. Stay tuned 😊