After more than a hundred years of innovation, Daimler AG, the German-based luxury automobile maker and parent company of Mercedes-Benz USA, opened the fourth branch of its innovation lab and startup incubator, Lab1886 on Monday.
The new location in the recently opened WeWork Terminus in Buckhead marks the fourth Lab1886 Daimler has opened; the company has three other locations in Beijing, Berlin and Stuttgart.
According to company representatives, Atlanta was chosen as the fourth location for Daimler's innovation lab because of the recent opening of the Mercedes-Benz USA headquarters in the city and its proximity to local, innovative talent. Recruiting for the innovation lab has already begun.
The innovation lab was named in honor of the year Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler invented the first automobile---a Mercedes.
"We are very proud of our logo, because it reflects in a perfect way the bridge between Daimler's great history of countless inventions and the unknown mobile future," global head of Lab1886, Susanne Hahn, said. "Lab1886 of course stands for the year when the car was born."
Proximity to other successful corporations such as The Coca-Cola Company, Cox Communications and Delta Air Lines was another prerequisite for the innovation lab's location, Hahn said. Combined with the rising startup ecosystem and "pioneer spirit" in the city, Atlanta was the perfect fit for Lab1886, she said.
"Today we are facing many trends like digitalization, urbanization and globalization," she said. "All this technological, regularity and social movements will change the automotive industry in the next 10 years for forever."
Daimler and Mercedes-Benz employees with innovative ideas will have the opportunity to join Lab1886 after a tough selection process to work on their projects full time during incubation and commercialization, Hahn said.
"When the idea finally makes it through the incubation phase and we, for example, plan a spinoff to further commercialize the idea, then the founder can be the CEO of the new company," she said.
Currently, Lab1886 has more than 30 projects in progress, Hahn said, including the volocopter, a totally autonomous, electric helicopter the company hopes will one day be used like other ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft.
"To be totally clear, that is not just a vision, it flies already," she said. "It is reality and the volocopter has its license already in Germany to fly."
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In addition to showcasing new projects coming out of Lab1886, Hahn also announced the appointment of Paul Lafata as the new CEO of the incubator.
"The mobility space is super hot in startups right now and I can't think of a better place or a company to be working with to take that to the next level," he said. "We're the new kids on the block here and although Atlanta is no stranger to tech startups, we're looking forward to being the next one and start to launch some great new businesses with you all."
Governor Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms were in attendance at the grand opening ceremony. Both political leaders shared comments about the exciting innovation happening in the city following the ribbon cutting.
"I want to just simply say on a higher note, thank you for what your company is doing, thank you for what Mercedes-Benz is doing," Deal said. "You have not only just given us the opportunity for showcasing what we have here in Atlanta and the state of Georgia, but you are also sending a very powerful message to other companies and to other parts of the world by your presence here, and that's what we're so pleased with."
"As the mayor of Atlanta, I just want to thank you for continuing to invest in our state and continuing to invest in our city," Bottoms said.
