SV Outposts

Many large corporations operate innovation outposts in Silicon Valley in order to strenghten their outside-in innovation. Here is an overview of the existing outposts grouped by industry. They range from few people spearheads to full-fletched R&D organizations with several hundred people.

  •  Aerospace
    • Airbus Group Ventures ($150m fund) and Airbus Group Silicon Valley technology and business innovation center
      Opened June 2015
    • CMU-Emirates Silicon Valley Innovation Lab
      Announced November 2015
    • DIUX (Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, run by the Department of Defense)
      Focus: developing working relationships with technology companies to solve the US military’s most challenging problems
      Location: Moffett Airfield in Mountain View
      Staff: about 20 civilian and military personnel
      Opened August 2015
    • JetBlue Technology Ventures
      Mission: invest in, incubate and partner with early stage startups at the intersection of technology, travel and hospitality.
      Means: partnering with incubators, venture capital firms, universities and other organizations inside and outside Silicon Valley. Goals: improve customer and crewmember experiences, increase the airline’s operational efficiency and expand the brand to new markets.
      Opened February 2016, located in Redwood City at GSVLabs.
    • NGA Outpost Valley of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (announced May 2016, to be opened in 2016
      7 focus areas: Radar, Automation, Geophysics, Spectral, Environment and Culture, Geospatial Cyber and Anticipatory Analytics
  • Automotive
    • VW Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) and VW Automotive Innovation Laboratory (VAIL) at Stanford University’s School of Engineering
      ERL opened August 1998 in Sunnyvale, now located in Belmont, with room for 80 people.  VAIL opened October 2009.
      Focus: driver assistance, sensors, image processing, autonomous driving, voice interfaces, speech recognition, urban mobility, eco-driving, social networking, geotagged information
    • BMW Group Technology Office
      Opened June 1998
    • Daimler (Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America Inc. set up in Palo Alto in 1995 and moved to Sunnyvale in 2013
    • Volvo VC
  • Electronics
    • Samsung
      Location: Menlo Park
      Opened: 2013
    • Schneider-Electric Silicon Valley Innovation Center
      Opened: 2016
    • Sennheiser Technology & Innovation (SFTC)
      Opened: January 2012, located in San Francisco. Focus: spatial audio, speech processing, and sensors for audio control. Mission: work on and detect early technology trends and identify and build relationships with world-class SV partners.
  • Energy
    • EON Strategic Co-Investments (part of Technology and Innovation)
      Opened: September 2014, located in San Francisco.
    • RWE New Ventures LLC
      Opened: December 2014, located in Palo Alto.
  • Financial Services
    • Deutsche Bank
    • L’Atelier BNP Paribas
  • Industrial
    • Siemens Tech-to-Business, Siemens Venture Capital, and Corporate Technology
      Focus: IoT
    • Bosch Research and Technology Center North America
      Opened: 1999
  • Software
    • SAP Innovation Center Silicon Valley, SAP Co-Innovation Lab (opened 2007), SAP Labs (opened 1993)
      All located in Palo Alto, one of 9 global innovation sites, total of 2.500 people.
  • Telecommunication 
    • Deutsche Telecom
    • Ericsson
    • Nokia
    • Orange
    • Swisscom
    • Vodafone
  • Other
    • AMEX
    • Department of Homeland Security
      Mission: access to startups and new technologies, and shaping the way these technologies evolve
      Opened: March 2016
    • EIT ICT Lab
    • Lego
    • Pearson
    • Nestle Silicon Valley Innovation Outpost
      Focus: help deepen relationships with consumers online and in social media;  enhance existing partnerships with leading technology corporations; looking for startups that Nestlé can work with
      Location: Pier 17 in San Francisco Bay
      Opened: November 2013
    • Target