Karma Automotive, the Southern California-based creator of luxury electric vehicles, has opened a business and technology development office in Silicon Valley to help drive innovation and build partnerships in support of its emergence as a high-tech incubator.
Located in San Jose, Karma Silicon Valley will initially house a small team of engineers and business strategists tasked with growing advanced-technology partnerships that will support and shorten the company’s product development process.
“Karma serves as a technology incubator,” said Karma CEO Dr. Lance Zhou. “We are opening our product platform to serve as a test bed to help potential business partners bring emerging innovation to market and increase the speed of our own product development.”
Establishing a proactive presence in California’s northern hub of tech development is a key element of Karma’s plan to invest in and grow the technologies it needs to speed product development and offer innovators and entrepreneurs the use of the company’s luxury EV platform to help prove their emerging breakthroughs. The company’s strategy is to blend independent development with partnerships and strategic sourcing.
“As a young and growing company, Karma is not shackled by legacy costs or bureaucratically weighed down by how things have been done in the past,” Zhou said, noting that by partnering with other innovative companies it can deliver progress much easier and faster than going it alone.
“Karma’s strength comes from our entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to collaborate and drive advanced technology solutions forward through innovative design, technology and importantly, the personalized relationships Karma has with its partners,” he added.
The new office will be led by Lewis Liu, Karma Vice President of Business Development and Strategy, and will initially focus on growing partnerships and investing in technologies to further develop its electric drive and user experience ecosystems.
Karma has kicked-off a period of rapid product introduction, including the U.S. launch of its 2020 Revero GT luxury electric vehicle, to be followed by an all-new fully-electrified global platform in 2021. The company will use AutoMobility LA, the Los Angeles Auto Show’s press & trade event, to unveil a new performance-based variant of its Revero GT and provide more details about future product offerings on Nov. 19.
