Skip to main content

Ford teams up with Techstars Mobility start-ups

The Ford Motor Company is to collaborate with three 2016 Techstars Mobility start-ups, Spatial, HAAS Alert and Cargo, to pursue next-generation mobility solutions, including navigation, connectivity and ride-sharing initiatives. Spatial is a Cincinnati-based company that provides a dynamic, human-driven layer of social intelligence to create mapping and navigation. Chicago-based HAAS Alert is a connected notification platform that warns motorists when emergency vehicles are approaching, while Cargo, a New Y
September 9, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

The 278 Ford Motor Company is to collaborate with three 2016 Techstars Mobility start-ups, Spatial, HAAS Alert and Cargo, to pursue next-generation mobility solutions, including navigation, connectivity and ride-sharing initiatives.

Spatial is a Cincinnati-based company that provides a dynamic, human-driven layer of social intelligence to create mapping and navigation. Chicago-based HAAS Alert is a connected notification platform that warns motorists when emergency vehicles are approaching, while Cargo, a New York-based in-vehicle general store, helps ride-share drivers cater to passengers.

Techstars Mobility, a Ford-sponsored initiative now in its second year, was designed to further the automaker’s mission to enhance next-generation mobility solutions while helping start-up companies get their footing in business.

The three companies will continue working with Ford to advance the automaker’s mission to enhance smart mobility. Spatial blends human-driven data such as social media content with machine-assisted analysis to impact how people use maps.

HAAS Alert aims to create intelligent traffic solutions by providing emergency vehicle data to drivers. The Ford-supported pilot program is launching in metro Detroit.

Cargo endeavours to enhance the ride-share experience for both drivers and passengers. Cargo kits, sent directly to ride-share drivers who purchase them, are stocked with products on-the-go passengers commonly want, such as snacks.

“The possibilities are endless when you combine the experience and influence of a storied company like Ford with the energy and innovation of these inspiring start-ups,” said Bill Coughlin, president and CEO, Ford Global Technologies. “This year’s Techstars Mobility program has truly exemplified that, and we’re thrilled to continue working with Spatial, HAAS Alert and Cargo.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Be bold on ITS, says Dutch infrastructure minister
    March 20, 2018
    The ITS industry must be bold if it is to succeed in helping to solve society’s mobility issues, according to a leading Dutch politician. “If we want to move forwards, we need brains – we also need the balls,” insisted Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, minister, infrastructure & water management. “No guts, no glory.” Investment was also required, she acknowledged, in order to help make transport more efficient, safe and sustainable. “The challenges we face are many,” she said at the official opening of Intertraffic
  • Monext outlines digital transportation challenges at CARTES
    November 5, 2014
    For a chairman of the Ford Motor Company to suggest that owning private vehicles could become impractical or even undesirable sounds crazy. That, however, is what Bill Ford proposed in 2012. He imagined a future where every form of transport, from bicycles to cars and public transport would be woven into a connected network.
  • Interior cameras and eye-tracking ‘to dominate driver monitoring technology’
    November 14, 2014
    Global shipments of factory-installed Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS) systems based on interior facing cameras will reach 6.7 million by 2019, according to recent findings from ABI Research. “DMS solutions are expected to gain new momentum as critical support systems for human-machine interactions (HMI) related to ADAS active safety alerts and autonomous-to-manual handover but also as solutions enabling smart dashboards and contextual HMI in an in-vehicle environment increasingly characterized by inform
  • Russia ramps-up technologies for transport communications
    March 28, 2018
    Covering an area almost as big as the US and Canada combined, Russia is planning to increase transport-related communications to improve road safety and traffic efficiency. Eugene Gerden reports. Russia’s government plans to increase road safety through the use of modern transport communication and the development of the relevant legislative base. Initially, particular attention will be on the introduction of connected cars and Vehicle to Anything (V2X) technologies. Russia has fewer than 60,000