Startup collaboration within Combient Foundry
15 MAY 2025
Simulated environments for autonomous vehicles. Virtual training for service technicians. Machine learning to improve aerodynamic design. Discover how Scania teams up with startups to accelerate innovation.
Scania is pursuing many roads when it comes to accelerating innovation. One of them is its membership in Combient Foundry, a co-creation platform that connects pioneering startups with leading Nordic industrial companies in an alliance to develop and drive technological breakthroughs.
“Now in its fifth year, Scania’s collaboration with Combient Foundry is already delivering tangible outcomes,” says Jonas Gustafsson, Senior Venture Collaboration Manager at Scania R&D.
“We’ve initiated around 25 pilot projects with startups,” he says. “Several of them have led to new technologies and methods that are now part of how we work at Scania.”
Three standout projects from Scania’s startup collaborations
- Simulated environments for training of autonomous vehicles
In this project, Silicon Valley–based startup Applied Intuition provided Scania with powerful tools to simulate and test code for autonomous vehicles more efficiently. The solution significantly reduces the need for physical testing.
“It saves a lot of time and money. Our estimates suggest that autonomous software verification can be developed ten to a hundred times faster – with physical vehicle test only used for late-stage system validation and verification testing,” says Jimmy Selling, Partnership Manager at Scania Autonomous Transport Solutions.
- Virtual training for electric vehicle service
As electrification accelerates, Scania needs to equip workshops worldwide for battery electric vehicles (BEVs). UK-based startup Digitalnauts developed a virtual training environment that prepares service technicians to safely handle high-voltage batteries – faster and more cost-effectively than traditional methods.
“We no longer need to fly teams around the world or rely on physical mock-ups. That means big savings – my estimate is that it’s in the range of EUR 1 million per year,” says Patrik Hakanen, Learning Consultant at Scania Academy.
- Machine learning speeds up aerodynamic design
Small design changes can significantly affect aerodynamics – but evaluating them usually requires complex, time-consuming calculations. With support from Japanese startup RICOS and U.S.-based PredictiveIQ, Scania’s engineers are developing a machine learning tool that delivers highly accurate predictions thousands of times faster than traditional methods.
“We see huge productivity gains in R&D, along with better product performance, improved energy efficiency, and in the end lower CO₂ emissions,” says Per Elofsson, an aerodynamics Senior Technical Manager at Scania R&D, who also sees great potential in applying similar methods for other engineering calculations.
Benefits both for Scania and the startups
The process of matching Scania with a startup through Combient Foundry often begins with an “open innovation challenge,” encouraging startups to respond to a specific technical challenge.
“It’s like a reverse pitch – we present the problem to startups, rather than having them pitch their solutions to us. Another benefit – both for us and the startup – is that we can team up around a shared technical challenge with other member companies within the Combient Foundry alliance,” says Gustafsson.
Startups contribute with “missing pieces” to Scania
What follows is a process of narrowing down which startups and projects have the potential to become pilot initiatives. In the final stage, physical meetings play a key role.
“What we’re looking for are truly unique companies with groundbreaking solutions,” Gustafsson explains. “And the problem they’re solving needs to matter to Scania. We’re after the ‘missing pieces’ areas where we need a fast track to innovation, or where the topic is important but not resource-efficient for us to handle internally.”
Read more about Scania’s business innovation and venture collaborations here.
