Zenzic reveals winners of £500,000 self-driving funding

Zenzic has announced the five winners of its CAM Scale-Up programme that will see self-driving start-ups share £500,000 in funding to boost their development.

The scheme, which is supported by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and delivered in partnership with Plug and Play, aims to give UK-based self-driving technology SMEs and start-ups the opportunity to test and develop their products through Zenzic’s CAM Testbed UK.

Plug and Play is an organisation that connects the best technology startups and the world’s largest corporations.

The CAM Testbed is a testing ecosystem created to aid the development of connected transport and self-driving vehicle technologies in the UK.

The five winning SMEs are:

• Angoka: Angoka provides hardware-based solutions for managing the cybersecurity risks inherent in machine-to-machine communication networks used for connected and autonomous vehicles, Industry 4.0, smart cities and critical infrastructure.
• Beam Connectivity: Beam Connectivity helps unlock the value in the data generated by vehicle fleets. Their Connected Vehicle as a Service (CVaaS) is a platform connecting vehicles, cloud, IT infrastructure and mobile apps.
• Eatron Technologies: Eatron Technologies is a software products and solutions company specialising in electric and autonomous vehicles.
• Helix Technologies: Helix Technologies is developing a range of compact, high-performance, dielectric-loaded ceramic antennas for use in a wide range of demanding telecommunications and navigation applications.
• RoboK: Cambridge-based start-up RoboK is developing cost-effective 3D sensing software solutions for low-power embedded computing platforms.

The winners will also be entered into Plug and Play’s global ecosystem for the duration of the programme, which means:

Regular check-ins and mentorship from Plug and Play experts, providing feedback and goals and objectives

Ongoing links to corporate and venture capital across mobility hubs in Europe, Silicon Valley, China, Japan and Detroit 

Opportunity to present at the relevant Plug and Play Summits in Silicon Valley and other international offices with the aim of generating inward investment.

Daniel Ruiz, CEO of Zenzic, said: “The five exciting companies who are being enrolled in the Zenzic CAM Scale-Up programme deserve particular congratulations for what they have achieved so far and for the huge strides forward they are taking.

“The UK has a strong track record delivering trusted, world-class solutions across safety assurance, cyber security, simulation, and certification.

“All these capabilities are vital to support the safe roll out of CAM services over the next 10 years, as per the UK Connected and Automated Mobility Roadmap to 2030.”

Ruiz said CAM Scale-Up will enable the winning companies to deliver their products to market much faster.

He added: “The opportunity to safeguard and support new UK capabilities is now all the more important as the country seeks to accelerate growth out of the sharp economic downturn.”