Boston and Sunnyvale, Calif. – In the face of economic uncertainty, Bosch Ventures, a Bosch subsidiary, announces an international venture capital commitment of around $270 million USD (250 million euros) to startups.
Referring to the presentation of the company’s annual figures for 2024, Stefan Hartung, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH, explained the rationale behind the new fund: “For one thing, our investments in startups promote technological progress in business and society, and for another, this collaboration also benefits our divisions. With disruptive technologies, startups can boost innovation in a way that delivers important growth impetus for a country’s economy. That is why we want to remain a reliable partner for the startup sector worldwide, even in an adverse business environment.”
The Bosch Ventures portfolio currently consists of more than 60 active investments, which includes a heavy emphasis on enterprise software in North America.
“North America is the leading market for venture capital,” said Ingo Ramesohl, managing director of Bosch Ventures. “We’ve built a strong and diversified portfolio here that combines technological depth with strategic growth potential.”
Invented for life: investment focus on energy efficiency and AI
Bosch Ventures has offices in Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale, Calif.) and in Boston as it focuses on the support of startups whose technologies have the potential to improve quality of life and conserve natural resources. The Bosch Group is an innovation leader at the forefront of efforts to bring about sustainable mobility, climate-neutral technology, and connectivity. In line with this, Bosch Ventures focuses its investments on fields such as energy efficiency and artificial intelligence (AI).
Examples of these investments in North America include startups such as:
- Claroty, a cybersecurity company focused on protecting industrial control systems and operational technology (OT) environments, enhancing the cybersecurity of cyber-physical systems.
- Striim, a startup for data integration and streaming. The company was founded to handle the volume, complexity, and velocity of enterprise data by connecting legacy systems to modern cloud applications on a scalable platform.
- CelLink, a manufacturer of high-conductance, large-area flexible circuits for the automotive industry. Its mission is to accelerate the transition to an all-electric future with intelligent, lightweight wiring systems, leading to electric vehicles that go farther on a single charge.
- Li Industries, a leader in cost-effective LFP battery cathode and sustainable supply chain solutions. Its proprietary recycling technology powers a seamless closed-loop system that integrates material recovery and supply in the most economical and sustainable way.
- Syntiant, a provider of AI-based semiconductor solutions for edge computing that recently has acquired Knowles’ Consumer MEMS Microphone division.
- Motive, a fleet management and telematics company leveraging AI and IoT to optimize logistics, improve driver safety, and reduce operational costs for commercial transportation.
“We invest in particular in deep-tech startups, which are based on scientific breakthroughs or technological innovations,” Ramesohl said. “As a result, these young companies have great potential to bring about fundamental market change.”
Successful portfolio: more than 100 investments in all regions of the world
The Bosch Ventures portfolio currently consists of more than 60 active investments. “When an investment comes to an end, we support successful exits like IPOs, just as institutional venture-capital funds do,” Ramesohl said. “The Bosch Ventures portfolio has already given rise to several successful IPOs.” Among these were Xometry, an innovative on-demand marketplace for industrial parts, and IonQ, the first publicly listed quantum computing company. The most recent successful exit from the Bosch Boston office was JetCool, a startup founded out of MIT whose patented liquid cooling technology helps to drive performance and energy efficiency in high-performance computing (HPC) and AI data centers.
Open Bosch: win-win partnerships and co-innovation with startups
In addition to providing venture capital, Bosch Ventures has run the Open Bosch program since 2018. This brings startups together with Bosch’s operating units at an early stage, giving startups a quick and easy opportunity to become a supplier, customer, or technology partner of Bosch. Bosch, in turn, receives early access to the latest technologies and can incorporate them together with its partners into joint innovations.
