Hosted and held in partnership with:

The Road Ahead with FORVIA convenes senior leaders from FORVIA and the VC mobility community to examine how the global supplier is investing in emerging technologies to move them from innovation to scale, and how capital, partnerships, and transactions shape that journey.

Agenda

7:30 a.m. — Registration, Breakfast & Startup + Capital Showcase

8:30 a.m. — Welcome Remarks

Adam Bernard

SAA President and Founder of AutoPerspectives

 

Francois Tardif

EVP, FORVIA North America

 

8:45 a.m. — Panel 1 — Identifying and Investing in Automotive Innovation

From Prototype to Platform: How Industrial Technologies Are Funded and Scaled

Moderator:

Jamie Butters

Founder of Butters Bureau and host of Autotown

 

Panelists:

 

Colleen Haley

President, Seating North America, FORVIA

 

 

Andrew Bates

Vice President, Automated Driving, FORVIA HELLA

 

 

Ben Cohen

Vice President, HELLA Ventures

 

 

Chad Durkee

Technology Scouting Director, North America, Faurecia

 

9:45 a.m. — Refreshment & Networking Break 

10:00 a.m. — Fireside Chat — M&A, Investments, Exits and Scale

This session covers evolving buyer and investor dynamics, technology investment criteria, common industrial M&A pitfalls, and how early capital decisions shape eventual exits.

Moderator: Jamie Butters, Founder of Butters Bureau and host of Autotown

Panelists:

 

Chris Stallman

Fontinalis – Early-stage Venture Capital Investor

 

 

Nancy Philippart

General Partner, BELLE Funds

 

• TBD, Private Equity Fund Investor

10:50 a.m. — Financing the Industrial Technology Lifecycle

A conversation with the startups and manufacturing innovations that FORVIA is investing in.

Moderator:

Tom Kelly

CEO of Automation Alley

 

Panelists:

Kevin Mull

Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, Bedrock Detroit

 

 

Maxwell Reeder

Account Executive, Inbolt

 

• TBD, Regional Startup

11:30 a.m. — Closing Remarks

Free for SAA members and media; $49 for non-members