Waterloo has become an epicentre for automotive technology. Our recent survey found that Waterloo now boasts 80+ autotech businesses, from global OEMs and suppliers to tech startups using artificial intelligence and nanotechnology to create new automotive products, and 20+ research and commercialization hubs.
In the middle of North America’s automotive corridor, home to a world-renowned technology ecosystem, a haven for top talent, with incredible cost advantages and research assets, this community is a destination for autotech companies looking to innovate.
Want to find out which autotech businesses are operating in Waterloo? We’ve made it easy. Download our 2019 Waterloo AutoTech Cluster Map – this free high-resolution PDF identifies all of the known players in Waterloo’s ecosystem. Get it now:
How did we categorized such a diverse community?
There’s a lot happening in this map, so let’s break it down.
As you might expect, categorizing companies across an entire ecosystem – offering an incredible range of products and services – isn’t easy. Most businesses fit in multiple categories, and defining the categories themselves is a challenge. We asked each business to choose which category their product or service fit in best, knowing that most would fit in at least two or three.
Here’s how we broke them down:
Driver Health Monitoring – These companies are focused on monitoring the health and wellness of drivers while they are operating a vehicle. One example is Sober Steering, which produces technology to stop drunk driving.
Clean Technology – These are companies focused on reducing the negative environmental footprint for the automotive industry. One example is BorgWarner, which is working on electric drivetrain technology in Waterloo.
Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems – These companies are focused on developing systems that assist the driver in the driving process. One example is IGNIS Innovation, which develops AMOLED displays for automotive applications.
Autonomous Vehicles – These are companies focused on technologies in support of self-driving vehicles, including OTTO Motors, which is developing self-driving vehicles for inventory movement.
Automotive Retail/Predictive Maintenance – These are companies focused on technologies or techniques intended to predict when maintenance should be performed on in-service equipment or vehicles. One example is CDK Global, which produces software to help automotive dealerships optimize vehicle servicing.
Security – Companies focused on securing the connected vehicle ecosystem, including ESCRYPT, which is a subsidiary of Bosch focused on developing technology to secure vehicles and smart cities.
Traffic Monitoring/Asset Tracking – Companies focused on technologies to monitor the movement of vehicles, including Labforge, which uses artificial intelligence to assist with thermal mapping.
Connected Vehicles – These are Companies focused on connecting vehicles to owner’s daily lives through the internet of things, other vehicles, or infrastructure. A couple of well-known Waterloo examples include Miovision and Dejero, and we have many more.
Manufacturing Automation – Companies focused on automating elements within manufacturing systems, including Acerta, which uses neural networks to predict product defects in real time.
Ride Sharing – These companies – including RideCo and Lime – are focused on technologies that allow private vehicle owners to sell or give access to their car.
Prototyping/Analytics – Companies that provide critical services directly to the AutoTech sector, including Terrene, which helps companies build and deploy their own machine learning systems to derive predictive analytics.
Additive Manufacturing – Companies that develop automotive parts or components using layers of material, including NanoQuan, which develops and manufactures advanced nanocomposites.
Automotive Manufacturing – Includes parts manufacturing and auto makers, including Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, which just made a $1.4 billion investment in our community.
We also thought it’d be helpful to list research labs and commercialization hubs that help automotive companies innovate. Our list of research labs includes the University of Waterloo’s Fuel Cell and Green Energy Lab, Conestoga College’s Centre for Smart Manufacturing, and much more. Commercialization hubs include the world-renowned Communitech hub, the world’s largest Internet-of-Things manufacturing space – Catalyst137 – and the Accelerator Centre, which is one of the world’s top university-linked business incubators.