Former finance lead for China-based joint venture Chery Jaguar Land Rover returns to UK
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Mike Smeed as Managing Director of InMotion Ventures, following the recent launch of Jaguar Land Rover’s new Open Innovation strategy.
By collaborating with start-ups, scale-ups and like-minded external organisations, Open Innovation is a fundamental building block of Jaguar Land Rover’s Reimagine strategy to become the creator of the world’s most desirable modern luxury vehicles and experiences for its clients, transforming into an electric-first business, leader in services and technology and carbon net zero company by 2039.
Since our launch in 2016, we have already invested in start-ups across key Open Innovation areas, such as autonomy, connectivity, electrification, sustainability, fintech, and intelligent enterprise.
Providing expertise and resources to founders to help them scale, we backs start-ups across all stages. Previous investments include Circulor, the supply chain visibility platform; By Miles, the usage-based insurance provider; Ascend Elements, a battery recycling company; and Carmoola, the mobile first solution for vehicle finance
Mike joins us from Chery Jaguar Land Rover, a Shanghai-based joint venture between Jaguar Land Rover and Chinese car manufacturer Chery Automobile Co., where he was the Vice President of Finance. He brings a wealth of experience enabling growth in multinational environments, and is well versed in managing relationships between large corporations and disruptive high-growth business units.
Mike Smeed, Managing Director at InMotion Ventures, said: “Jaguar Land Rover’s Open Innovation strategy is putting innovation at the heart of the business, bringing new thinking and opportunities, helping accelerate the delivery of the company’s Reimagine strategy. An established Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) arm is key to achieving its objectives. InMotion Ventures has an excellent reputation in the market, with an enviable portfolio today, and this is a fantastic opportunity to lead the fund to further success as we closer align with the business’ transformation plans.”
Igor Murakami,, Director New Services, Software and Open Innovation for Jaguar Land Rover, welcomed Smeed’s arrival saying: “InMotion is a key component of our global Open Innovation programme to accelerate the delivery of Jaguar Land Rover Reimagine strategy. Under Mike’s leadership the InMotion team will identify and invest in the digital services, products, tools, and processes that will be critical to achieving carbon net zero by 2039, whilst also creating new value chains for the business.”
Mike, who joins the recent hiring of Sam as Principal, will oversee our continued investment in transformative and disruptive mobility start-ups, maximising opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration with Jaguar Land Rover through Open Innovation, as well as delivering value to the our existing portfolio beyond capital, with the facilitation of corporate relationships and knowledge transfer.
About InMotion Ventures
Powered by Jaguar Land Rover, InMotion Ventures makes strategic investments into innovative, high-growth companies building a sustainable future for the automotive industry. InMotion invests in startups across the globe, typically between Seed to Series C and notable past investments have included Lyft (exited in 2019), Ascend Elements, Circulor and Apex AI.
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