KION, one of the world’s leading providers of industrial trucks and supply chain solutions, has joined the Combient Foundry Venture Alliance. The partnership marks a new step in KION’s innovation strategy and strengthens Combient Foundry’s presence in Germany and the intralogistics sector.
Combient Foundry unites leading industrial companies such as Atlas Copco, Autoliv, Epiroc, Husqvarna Group, KONE, Scania, and Stora Enso to collaborate with top industrial startups through a shared venture client model. With KION joining, the alliance expands into a new strategic industry—logistics and intralogistics—where automation, robotics, and AI are transforming how goods move within and between industries.
Headquartered in Frankfurt, KION unites the brands Linde Material Handling, STILL, and Dematic, employing more than 42,000 people across 100 countries. The company develops and manufactures forklifts, warehouse automation systems, and digital intralogistics solutions that form the backbone of modern manufacturing and distribution.
KION sees venture clienting as a way to bring external innovation into its operations faster and with less friction. By establishing a structured process for working with startups, KION can shorten the path from idea to implementation, test emerging technologies with lower risk, and focus resources on solutions that deliver measurable business impact.
“Venture clienting gives us a decisive edge. We can spot the right startups faster and bring their solutions into our organization without delay.”
Eike Wibrow, VP Global Technology Strategy at KION.
Through Combient Foundry, KION gains access to a curated global startup ecosystem and to the shared knowledge of Europe’s leading industrial innovators. This networked approach enables KION to benchmark against peers, exchange learnings, and scale proven methods for startup collaboration.
“We are proud to welcome KION to our Venture Alliance and to officially launch our operations in Germany. KION is a global leader in intralogistics with deep industry expertise and global reach. We are excited to work closely with KION teams to identify and scale startup solutions that deliver measurable results in key themes like AI, industrial automation and sustainability. This marks an important step in expanding our presence in Central Europe.”
Lauri Lehtovuori, CEO of Combient Foundry.
The partnership strengthens both KION’s innovation capabilities and the Alliance’s footprint in the DACH region. Together, they aim to accelerate the adoption of technologies that make supply chains more efficient, connected, and sustainable.
Explore Venture Client opportunities from KION and other Alliance members here, and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates.
About Combient Foundry
Combient Foundry is the Venture Client Alliance of leading Nordic Industrial companies. We create mutual growth opportunities by fostering commercial partnerships between these companies and top-tier technology startups. Read more about us on https://combientfoundry.com/
