Crisis brings creativity, says CEO Bill Ford.

Ford Motor Co. will invest $2 million, along with partners Verizon and automotive supplier Magna International, to set up a new high-tech incubator in Detroit in a search for companies “with the next new, big idea.”

To be called Techstars Mobility: Driven by Detroit, the new venture is part of a network of incubators that first launched in Boulder, Colorado and has since expanded to 13 other cities, with Detroit now planned as the next to come on line. The program will create a sort of boot camp for high-tech start-ups, mentoring them on basic business practices while nurturing their ideas and helping access sources of funding.

“We expect hundreds, perhaps thousands, of applications” for the program which will begin next year,” said Techstar founder and CEO David Brown.

Ten promising start-ups will be chosen for the first three-month program set to begin next June. Each will receive $120,000 cash, along with the mentoring experience. In return, they will provide equity of between seven and 10% back to Techstars and its partners.

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That could yield a significant payback if, as Brown claimed during a presentation at Ford on Thursday, 90% of the entrepreneurs who go through the program eventually launch successful companies.

"The results are staggering," from other Techstars programs, claims founder David Brown, far right.

“The results of the program are staggering,” he claimed, suggesting that, on average, each graduate strt-up quickly lines-up $1.9 million in funding.

The announcement of the new Detroit-based incubator comes barely 24 hours after a federal judge released the Motor City from bankruptcy. Detroit has seen a relatively sudden surge of new investments, including a flood of high-tech start-ups. At the same time, the so-called Big Three automakers have been investing heavily in new mobility-based technologies. General Motors has a major technology investment fund that is sponsoring ventures ranging from batteries to advanced steel.

“History shows we make some of our biggest improvements at times of our most serious challenges,” said Ford Chairman Bill Ford, a strong advocate of the new Techstars program. The timing, he added, “resonates with the rebirth of the City of Detroit.”

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During a news briefing with Brown and representatives of both Verizon and Magna, Ford said it is critical for his company to be looking at new technology – as well as new ways of thinking about the automotive business. The traditional business model, he stressed, “is changing.”

During the same morning-long news event, Ford officials announced the latest generation of their high-tech Sync 3 system. Early versions of the infotainment technology have helped draw a number of buyers to the company’s products, they stressed. And while it is unclear Techstars will lead to an equal breakthrough, the program’s partners said they hope to find significant new developments in areas as far afield as ride-sharing and pollution control technologies.

“We are trying to figure out who the people are with the next big idea,” said Brown.

Added Ford’s chairman, “We want to inject new thought into the auto industry.”

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