Rubber giant Bridgestone rubs shoulders with Iris Capital to launch new corporate venture initiative

Rubber giant Bridgestone rubs shoulders with Iris Capital to launch new corporate venture initiative

As corporates all over the world are en masse starting to look at startups to further their own innovation ambitions by investing and/or acquiring in external talent and initiatives, we're also beginning to see interesting collaborations between traditional VCs and big companies.

Case in point: French VC firm Iris Capital is today announcing that it has teamed up with Bridgestone Europe, the local subsidiary of the publicly listed tire and other rubber product juggernaut.

The two companies are forming a 'corporate venture partnership' to scout for and invest in new mobility services, industry 4.0 and digital transformation technologies across Europe, the Middle-East and Africa.

Some of Iris Capital’s portfolio companies include the likes of Careem, Mojio, Mister Auto, Unu Motors and Cobi.

As a new partner to Paris-based Iris Capital, Bridgestone joins companies like Orange, Publicis and Valeo as sponsors to IrisNext, the firm’s €250 million multi-corporate vehicle gathering corporates, financial investors, individuals and institutions under a fully independent management.

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