Ep. 26 - Inside the CampX model

CampX was launched back in 2020. Labelled as Accelerator, it is actually a Venture Client platform, or, as Helene Niklasson, VP Innovation Ecosystems & Partnership and Head of Camp X - Volvo Group, calls it, a “testing tool” or “validation machine” for onboarding solutions from startups.

In this podcast, she delves deeper into the CampX model alongside our Chairman, Alberto Onetti.
And here are the main highlights:

- Selected startups in very focused areas enter into a POV (Proof of Value). If it is successful, solutions are integrated in technology platforms or services and scaled internally. Since the launch, 80 projects have been validated and about 10-15% of them are currently in the integration phase. The internal target is to run about 50 ongoing projects across the 4 locations (Gothenburg, Lyon, Greensboro, and Bangalore) where Volvo Group has its R&D sites (CampX is under the CTO office).

- In 2022 a Venture Builder was added, and in 2023 an Incubator. Both are deployed only at the Gothenburg R&D facility, but if they prove successful, the CampX team is hoping to roll it out to other sites.

- The Venture Builder, led by Karin Falck, is the landing point for internal ideas and IP that are vetted through subsequent iterations. Thus far 4 projects have been developed, 2 deployed internally and 2 span- out.

- The Incubator programme - led by Robert Jan van Vugt - gives some 30 startups access to the company’s testing labs, workshops and prototyping space for two years. It’s focused on seed/early stage startups that would otherwise be years away from being mature enough for a joint project with Volvo Group.

Volvo Group is among the Top100 world's "Corporate Startup Stars" awarded in Paris last December.