Honda is searching for Israeli technology to eventually make Honda vehicles completely collision free.
By NIV ELISUpdated: JANUARY 25, 2016 12:43Honda Motor Co's NSX is displayed at the 44th Tokyo Motor Show in Tokyo, Japan(photo credit: REUTERS)
Japanese motor company Honda made its formal entrance in Israel's tech market Monday, seeking local technology for connected cars at the OurCrowd annual summit.“Our presence at this conference is actually Honda’s first formal entrance to Israel’s technology community. Having come here from silicon valley, I can tell you that I’m very impressed with the innovative and entrepreneurial culture and spirit of the start-up nation,” said Nick Sugimoto, the Senior Program Director of Honda's Silicon Valley Lab.Honda, he said, was searching for Israeli technology to develop smart car apps through its Honda Developer Studio, and others to participate in its accelerator program called Honda XCelerator. The eventual goal, he added, was to eventually make Honda vehicles completely collision free.OurCrowd, an equity crowd-funding platform, presented several companies working in the connected car space. VocalZoom, for example, offers a voice recognition system that uses lasers to detect vocal vibration and separate words out from background noise. The company expects the technology to be available in cars by 2018, which will help drivers keep their eyes on the road while dealing with their car's various functions.Another, Engie, seeks to automatically diagnose mechanical problems, and elicit quotes from nearby mechanics to increase transparency and lower prices to consumers.“Israel is particularly well positioned to produce companies relevant to the auto industry given its strengths in embeddable devices, machine vision and related algorithm development and cybersecurity,” said OurCrowd CEO Jon Medved. “We are proud to be working closely with Honda, a company dedicated to investing in the future.”