Panasonic Ventures has opened an embedded Linux incubator at its Digital Concepts Center in San Jose, Calif. The Technology Collaboration Center (aka Linux Collaboration Center) hopes to host and collaborate with four or five consumer electronics Linux startups, in exchange for first right-of-refusal on up to 10 percent of the startup's next institutional funding round.

Brad McManus, director of Panasonic's Digital Concepts Center, says that the Linux Collaboration Center has not yet confirmed any resident companies, although it is in advanced talks with one. He says the Center is most interested in “middleware and applications, but also tools,” and also, “user-interface technologies, such as multi-modal input, possibly involving speech… ubiquitous networking, making devices communicate with each other — generally, technologies built upon a standardized software architecture.”

McManus says a growing focus on standardized software architectures inspired the company to launch its Linux incubator. McManus said, “We want to see our R&D work apply to many different products. And, as in-car devices need to interoperate increasingly with mobile devices, which need to interoperate more with home devices, it helps to have a standardized software architecture.”

Panasonic uses other open sources OSes in addition to Linux, but Linux has become a top choice due to its cost-effectiveness and robust nature, according to McManus.

Panasonic's Digital Concepts Center took an equity investment in MontaVista in March of 2002, and Panasonic's parent company, Matsushita, inked a broad licensing deal with the Linux startup last fall, giving it company-wide access to all of MontaVista's products. McManus said he expects Panasonic's relationship with MontaVista to expand in the future, and he confirmed that MontaVista Linux plays a role in the company's “standardized software architecture: “We're looking to optimize our products on Linux — but especially for MontaVista Linux.”

Panasonic's Linux Collaboration Center is not a traditional incubator, in that it will not promise to provide funding. Participants will pay for rent and services within the center, similar to the model used by the Open Technology Center opened by the OSDL last year in conjunction with the City of Beaverton, Ore. However, “Companies will find [the Center] more cost-effective than renting space somewhere,” McManus said.

R&D teams from within Panasonic will share office space on the same floor as the Linux Collaboration Center, and will collaborate with hosted teams on areas of mutual interest. Based on the strength of those collaborations, Panasonic will have the right to invest in up to 10 percent of the startup's next institutional funding round. But, notes McManus: “We're not seeking to invest. We're seeking to collaborate.”

Panasonic Ventures has operated for six years, and has invested in more than 20 companies, including Iconos, PRN, Entropic, Epigram, and Elixant.

Panasonic “is now actively recruiting select early stage start-up companies to participate in the new Center,” said McManus. “Any company targeting the consumer electronics industry that is building upon the Linux operating system should contact us. That includes companies in Europe or on the East Coast looking for a presence in Silicon Valley.”

McManus emphasized that “in addition to opportunities for engaging Panasonic as a partner and/or potential customer, the participating companies will be able to pursue business opportunities with other non-Panasonic companies as well.”

Panasonic is in the came corporate family as Matsushita, which is one of the founding members of the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum (CELF).

More details on Panasonic's new Linux Collaboration Center can be found here.

 
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