Volvo owner Geely and Concordium announce joint venture for China blockchain services

Volvo owner Geely Holding and Switzerland-based Concordium have signed a joint venture deal that will provide Chinese customers with blockchain technology that can be used to build new business models and create decentralised applications.

The joint venture, which is expected to be operational later this year after regulatory approval is secured, will use Concordium’s blockchain technology to help customers build businesses focused on issues such as digital identity, as well as...

22 February 2021 | Automotive

BMW backing brings blockchain startup Vendia’s total funding to £15 million

BMW i Ventures was among the investors to join Vendia’s series A funding round for its serverless SaaS (software as a service) blockchain solution, which raised $15.5 million (£11.2m) and brought their total funds raised to $20.6m (£15m).

The investment was led by Canvas Ventures, with participation from BMW i Ventures and Sorenson Ventures, who joined earlier seed round investors such as Neotribe Ventures, WestWave Capital, Firebolt Ventures, and more.

Vendia is...

11 February 2021 | Automotive

Tesla buys $1.5bn in Bitcoin, plans to begin accepting it as form of payment

Tesla announced on Monday that it has invested $1.5 billion (£1.1bn) into Bitcoin back in January, and that it plans to start accepting it as a form of payment soon.

The car firm, who has seen its share price soar in the past year, specified in a stock market filing on its forward-looking statements for 2021 that it has updated its investment policy to allow for ‘more flexibility to further diversify and maximise returns on cash that is not required to maintain adequate...

8 February 2021 | Automotive

MOBI releases second instalment of blockchain vehicle identity ledger

The Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI), which collaborates with leading automakers such as Ford and BMW, has released the second iteration of its Vehicle Identity (VID) Standard blockchain technology.

The release of the VID II Standard improves on the scope of the VID I Standard released back in 2019. The first iteration of VID served as a birth certificate to provide a master record for the date of vehicles’ creation, whereas VID II now incorporates vehicle registration...

3 February 2021 | Applications

Jaguar Land Rover invests in Circulor for blockchain-based supply chain sustainability

InMotion, the venture capital arm of Jaguar Land Rover, has announced an undisclosed investment in blockchain technology provider Circulor.

Circulor, based in the United Kingdom and Ireland, offers 'traceability as a service', to enable tracing of raw materials throughout a global supply chain. Using a combination of GPS, biometrics and QR codes, as well as blockchain, movement of raw materials can be digitally verified at all points of the process.

The investment 'will...

6 January 2021 | Automotive

Ford says blockchain and ‘dynamic geofencing’ can improve city air quality

A new study from Ford has argued blockchain technologies can help with hybrid electric vehicles for cleaner air in urban centres.

The pan-European research collated more than 400,000 kilometres of data through Ford Transit and Tourneo PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) across three countries.

In Cologne, a municipal fleet trial aimed to show how blockchain can complement geofencing - location-based triggers - to help improve air quality. Through geofencing,...

5 January 2021 | Automotive

Volvo doubles down on blockchain play with Circulor investment

Volvo has announced an investment in Circulor, a blockchain technology provider, as the company looks to further its ambitions in the sector.

The investment in Circulor is focused on providing greater traceability for cobalt in Volvo's supply chain, with Volvo Cars Tech Fund, the venture capital arm of the automotive manufacturer, contributing alongside SYSTEMIQ, Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures and Plug & Play.

Cobalt is used significantly in lithium ion batteries,...

20 July 2020 | Automotive

Daimler explores decentralised data offering in Ocean Protocol collaboration

Daimler, the automotive manufacturer behind the Mercedes-Benz brand among others, is working with Singapore-based Ocean Protocol on a pilot project for 'decentralised data orchestration.'

The project, claimed as a success by both parties, is focused around Ocean Protocol's 'compute-to-data' solution, which aims to enable companies to share, buy, and sell data while maintaining privacy.

Ocean Protocol's wider vision is to coalign blockchain and artificial intelligence...

8 July 2020 | Applications

BMW looks to blockchain for supply chain transparency

BMW Group is continuing to use blockchain technology to trace and track components and raw materials multi-stage international supply chains. According to Andreas Wendt, member of the board of management of BMW, who’s responsible for purchasing and supplier networks, the automaker successfully conducted a pilot in 2019 to purchase front lights and in 2020 it is expanding the project to a large number of other suppliers.

Apart from implementing blockchain solutions, PartChain...

1 April 2020 | Automotive

Toyota and Securitize develop blockchain-based ID platform

Toyota is looking to expand the scope of its blockchain operations with a new personal ID and vehicle ID platform that has been developed in collaboration with blockchain start-up BUIDL.

The personal ID platform can be used by corporate entities to manage points, employee benefits and digital certificate issuance, whereas the vehicle ID platform can be used to manage vehicle registration, maintenance records, ownership records and more.

BUIDL, established in 2018 and...

18 March 2020 | Applications