Startup Autobahn Singapore, a corporate innovation platform powered by Mercedes-Benz and Plug and Play, has kickstarted its third accelerator program for startups in Singapore. The program today announced partnerships with Jardine Cycle & Carriage and The Linde Group. With the new partners joining, the program seeks to be the key innovation platform in the Southeast Asian region for the mobility sector with focus on areas such as retail experience, sales and after-sales and marketing technology.
Startup Autobahn was started in Stuttgart, Germany by Daimler with Plug and Play, University of Stuttgart and Arena 2036. The program has since expanded to several global locations such as in Asia, South Africa and Latin America. Startup Autobahn connects into Plug and Play’s global mobility innovation platform to connect corporations, startups, investors and other partners.
After screening over 200 startups, a total of 12 startups have been accepted into Startup Autobahn Singapore.The program aims to facilitate pilots, Proof-of-Concepts and other commercial opportunities between the startups and the program partners and to connect startups to regional markets.
Jupe Tan, Managing Partner for Plug and Play in Asia Pacific, said, “We are excited to expand our global mobility platform with new partners joining us in Southeast Asia. We aim to use Singapore as a hub to connect our corporate partners with both startups from the region as well as through our global networks in over 25 cities around the world.”
Axel Weichert, Head of Regional CoC Sales Overseas, said, “Our target as Mercedes-Benz is to be the Digital Champion in the automotive industry. To achieve this target we need to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. Startup Autobahn contributes hugely to it.”
Commenting on the partnership, Jardine Cycle & Carriage’s Regional Managing Director, Haslam Preeston said, “Innovation is key to Jardine Cycle & Carriage’s strategy to drive growth in our Southeast Asian automotive business. Collaborating with mobility startups on the Startup Autobahn platform enables us to explore and test new ideas and solutions for our markets.”
“Expanding our partnership with Startup Autobahn to Asia Pacific will help us achieve our goal of learning from latest technology and data expertise, which these startups bring, and leverage this within our various business functions across the region,” says Sonia Maria Scolt of the Corporate Digitalisation Office from The Linde Group.
Throughout the duration of the 12-week program, startups will be introduced to the various business units within the four partners’ network and have the chance to work with their different business units to evaluate pilot projects and investment opportunities with these companies.
The EXPO or Demo Day for these startups will be in mid-February. The program is supported by corporate partners with no fee or equity requirement for selected startups. Startups will remain part of the Startup Autobahn and Plug and Play ecosystem after graduation with opportunities to connect to their global network.
About Plug and Play
Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services, and an in-house VC to facilitate technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 20 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 10,000 startups and 280 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. We are the world’s most active venture capital firm, with roughly 250 startup investments a year.
Our Singapore office was launched in 2010 to invest in high tech startups in the region. Since then we have invested in more than 30 startups and have collaborated with various agencies of the Singapore and Indonesian governments, as well as partnered with multinational and regional corporations to run industry-specific accelerator programs. For more information, visit www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/singapore