General Motors Launches VC Subsidiary to Develop New Automotive Technologies

General Motors today announced another measure aimed at showing the world that it can learn new tricks. Suffering from some severe image problems as a result of its recent government bailout, GM has launched a new venture capital subsidiary aimed at identifying and developing innovative automotive technologies. Add this development to the soon-to-be released electric Chevy Volt, and GM is almost looking like a company that’s able to think on its feet.

The coffers for the new subsidiary, called General Motors Ventures, will be filled with an initial investment of $100 million. The managers of the new fund are” currently exploring equity investments in a number of auto-related technologies and business models,” according to GM’s news release today.

The man in charge of the VC subsidiary, effective July 1, is Jon J. Lauckner, former GM vice president of Global Product Planning.

Lauckner’s boss, GM veep Stephen J. Girsky, said in a prepared statement that it’s all about delivering the best technology to customers.

“Our goal is to nurture these innovative technologies to help bring them to market,” Girsky’s statement says.

As Xconomy has reported in many ways since launching our Detroit site, there are many innovative technologies in Michigan to choose from. We’ll be watching closely what GM plans to do with its new fund.

Author: Howard Lovy

Howard Lovy is a veteran journalist who has focused primarily on technology, science and innovation during the past decade. In 2001, he helped launch Small Times Magazine, a nanotech publication based in Ann Arbor, MI, where he built the freelance team and worked closely with writers to set the tone and style for an emerging sector that had never before been covered from a business perspective. Lovy's work at Small Times, and on one of the first nanotechnology-themed blogs, helped him earn a reputation for making complex subjects understandable, interesting, and even entertaining for a broad audience. It also earned him the 2004 Prize in Communication from the Foresight Institute, a nanotech think tank. In his freelance work, Lovy covers nanotechnology in addition to technological innovation in Michigan with an emphasis on efforts to survive and retool in the state's post-automotive age. Lovy's work has appeared in many publications, including Wired News, Salon.com, the Wall Street Journal, The Detroit News, The Scientist, the Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report, Michigan Messenger, and the Ann Arbor Chronicle.