The company has established a new organisation in Singapore to support early-stage startups in areas such as autonomous driving technology, in-car information systems, artificial intelligence and sustainability.
The German company is particularly interested in partnering with semiconductor-related startups in the region, said Continental senior vice president Juergen Bilo in an interview with Nikkei Asia.
Continental announced Tuesday the establishment of an organisation called Co-pace in Singapore to collaborate with regional startups. Continental will support startups by providing the test vehicles, technologies and data sets needed for commercialisation.
The company aims to find promising startups in the Asia-Pacific region through the initiative and grow them into future suppliers and partners. Singapore will be Continental’s sixth location to set up the organisation, after the US, China, Mexico, Israel and Germany.
Bilo, who is also the managing director of Co-pace, said the company is particularly interested in partnering with the region’s semiconductor-related startups. “We are looking at topics such as microLEDs,” a key technology for next-generation high-resolution displays, the executive said.
Continental aims to use this technology in products like head-up displays for advanced in-car information systems. “A lot of these technologies are coming from Taiwan, Singapore, etc,” he added.
Bilo also pointed out sensors, smart mobility and artificial intelligence as promising areas in which to partner with startups in the region.
The executive said his organisation will aim to support “50 to 100” startups in the proof-of-concept stage in the region. Continental will also look into investment opportunities in these startups. The company has worked with 200 startups globally through the programme and invested in “double-digit numbers of startups”, he said.
The global automotive industry is working more closely with startups to overcome rapid technological innovations in areas such as autonomous driving and electrification. Continental’s rival Bosch also launched its regional headquarters for startup incubation in Singapore last year.
Lo Kien Foh, president and CEO of Continental Automotive Singapore, also told Nikkei that the company would accelerate the hiring of engineers from the region. “We wish to grow (the number of engineers) at the rate of 20% per year,” he said, aiming to hire specialists in software, AI, cybersecurity and robotics.
Continental operates a research and development centre in Singapore with around 1,100 engineers.
Asked about the automobile industry’s ongoing disruption in supply chains due to the global chip shortage, the Singapore chief said, “We are also affected by it. Moving ahead, I think it’s getting better.”