Caterpillar hosted a Startup Challenge Wednesday. 10 different startups pitched their innovations to a panel of experts and an audience of about 100 people. The startups ranged in 3-D printing and analytics to self-healing metal materials.
Magnus Andersson is with one of the companies that pitched to Caterpillar. He says the contact he made at the event made it a success for his company before he took the stage to pitch his innovation. “To see this level of commitment from Caterpillar is great. They take it seriously. They do it the right way, with a really nice setup. This, as a startup company is what you want to see.”
The Caterpillar CFO has said the company will continue to invest in Research and Development this year in spite of the global economic downturn.
Michael Young is the General Manager of Caterpillar Ventures. It's a special arm of the company. "It’s all about leveraging the R&D and today is just a small piece of that, a very small piece in what we would call investing in the future.”
The Illinois Science and Technology Coalition put together a list of startups that Caterpillar selected for the challenge. The Caterpillar Industrial Design Center in Mossville hosted the challenge. Caterpillar may choose to partner with all, some or none of the 10 startup companies.