GM Establishes Venture Capital Subsidiary

As the automotive world is evolving, the number of technologies involved in this field is following an increasing trend, determining automotive producers to pay more attention to the research and development sector.The latest initiative in the field comes from General Motors, which announced that it has established General Motors Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary aimed at allowing the company to identify and develop innovative technologies in the automotive/transportation sector.

General Motors Ventures will also provide a path to establish partnerships with other venture capital companies, offering its parent company multiple collaboration opportunities.

The new project will be lead by J. Lauckner, who was appointed General Motors Vice President and President General Motors Ventures, LLC. The executive will report to Stephen J. Girsky, General Motors vice chairman of Corporate Strategy and New Business Development. Lauckner will fill in his new position on July 1. Lauckner formerly served as General Motors vice president of Global Product Planning.

"We are constantly looking for ways to deliver the best technology for our customers,” said Stephen J. Girsky, vice chairman and vice president Corporate Strategy and New Business Development. “Our goal is to nurture these innovative technologies to help bring them to market, and to ensure our customers have access to the best technology available.”

General Motors Ventures has been funded through an initial investment of $100 million. The subsidiary is currently exploring equity investments in a number of automotive world technologies as well as business models.