In today’s episode of our CVC series, Andreas and our CVC in-house expert, Jeppe Høier, talk with Ann-Sofie Ekberg, CEO of Volvo Cars Tech Fund, the corporate venture arm of Volvo Cars. Founded in 2018, the fund invests directly from Volvo’s balance sheet, backing startups in mobility, sustainability, and digitalization. While prioritizing strategic relevance, the fund maintains a disciplined investment approach, engaging with startups at various stages—predominantly Series A and B, with some selective seed investments.

Under Ann-Sofie’s leadership, the Tech Fund has developed a structured approach to ensure investments align with Volvo’s readiness to adopt new technologies. She emphasizes the importance of startups having diverse customer bases beyond Volvo to avoid over-reliance. In this conversation, Ann-Sofie also shares insights into balancing strategic and financial priorities, how Volvo collaborates with competitors in CVC, and why she believes platform-based vehicle architectures will unlock faster innovation and startup adoption in the automotive industry.

Go to eu.vc for our core learnings and the full video interview 👀

Chapters:

02:28 Understanding Volvo Cars and Volvo Group
03:25 Corporate Venture at Volvo Cars
03:50 Volvo Cars Technology Fund: History and Mission
05:14 Investment Decisions and Internal Sponsors 
07:06 Seed Investments and Strategic Disruptions
08:05 Strategic vs. Financial Investments
10:07 Portfolio Modeling and Investment Criteria
12:33 Mandate and Budget Flexibility
14:08 Challenges in the Automotive Industry
17:40 The Role of Technology and Platforms
20:04 Sustainability Goals and Initiatives
22:59 Investment in Battery Technology
26:17 Collaboration and Scaling Challenges
33:41 Corporate Venturing and Competition
39:47 Boardroom Dynamics and Ownership
44:23 Success Stories and Additional Opportunities
45:49 Conclusion and Final Thoughts