In 2021, XNode and Scania, a world-leading provider of transport solutions from Sweden, joined forces again to launch the second Scania Startup Accelerator. For over ten months, XNode and Scania's internal innovation team have made the transition to a cleaner, safer and smarter way of operation.

This Startup Accelerator is launched for fast-growing Chinese startups, aiming to drive innovation power with Scania's Digital Business Lab through emerging technologies and new business models, and to co-create solutions for the transportation industry in China and the global market.

Roadmap
Mar - May 2021 Program Scoping

At the beginning of the project, we invited Scania's Digital Business Lab, Innovation Center, and other key stakeholders to reversely sort out the industry value chain from end users, business partners, to Scania itself. With joint-effort, we explored customer pain points and needs, and eventually co-defined four innovation challenge topics – People Empowerment, Manufacturing of the Future, Transportation as a Service, and New Energy Battery.

Aug – Oct 2021 Startup Scouting
In the startup scouting phase, we reflected from last batch’s learning to engage Scania BU heads at the very early stage, in order to obtain internal support and resource. Among the 40 startups scouted from the XNode network, we selected 10 potential startups for in-depth one-on-one interviews. Finally, 3 startups were matched with Scania’s 3 different BUs, joining together for the next-stage PoC collaboration.

‍Oct 2021 - Jan 2022 PoC Acceleration‍

The 3-month intensive acceleration was a process that requires multi-party collaboration. During the acceleration phase, XNode supported each project team to visit Scania BUs, dealers, workshops, and other industry partners to understand user demands, develop product prototypes, and make the most use of client resources to quickly validate and iterate solutions.

‍Final Demo Day‍

On January 20, 2022, the three startups presented their PoC projects progress to colleagues from Scania China and Sweden.

Through a 10-minute pitch, the three PoC project teams presented their demo and business model to the Scania jury (Scania China management team, Head of Digital Business Lab, Head of Innovation Center, Chinese and European BU stakeholders, and etc.); and further explained from the perspectives of user-centric needs, (people) desirability, (technology) feasibility, and (business) viability to answer juries' questions.‍

ACKTEC

‍Online scenario-based training and assessment tool co-created with Scania Service & Parts BU for logistic companies and truck drivers.

‍TRUCKEGO  ‍

Used commercial vehicle evaluation tool co-designed with Scania Solution Sales BU to help dealers rate Scania’s used vehicles based on basic parameters and market factors.

‍LONGTEK  
VR workshop solution of S Level maintenance co-developed with Scania Region East BU and Ruibao Workshop to allow maintenance workers for virtual operation.

‍Look Forward
XNode is always business-impact-driven and is committed to building practical partnerships between Scania and startups. As a bridge of communication between the two parties, we are closely connected with startups and the core departments of corporates to continuously promote the acceleration and industrialization in both directions.

Hope this Startup Accelerator provides a good start for the cooperation between the two parties, bringing innovation and co-creation into reality to create more business value for Scania China and global market.

Scania Startup Accelerator, Program Director, Lin Xia

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