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Infineon Technologies opened its first global co-Innovation Space to help start-ups create prototypes and viable semiconductor solutions for commercial use.

The first of its kind for the company, this 250-square meter Co-Innovation Space located at Infineon’s Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore aims to fast-track the product development process of start-ups.

“Infineon’s decision to locate the Co-Innovation Space in Singapore is timely. With the rise of the middle class, the ASEAN region is on track to becoming the fourth largest single market in the world by 2030. As the Asia Pacific regional headquarters and the regional manufacturing control tower, Infineon Singapore is well-positioned to capitalize on opportunities in the region from Singapore and our government will continue to work with industry partners to grow the electronics sector,” said Koh Poh Koon, senior minister of state for trade and industry at Infineon Singapore’s Oktobertech Asia event.

Infineon first established its manufacturing plant for systems assembly in Singapore in 1991 and has come a long way since then. Today it takes the lead in designing 80 per cent of Infineon’s microcontrollers and its two other teams deep dive into power management and digital security systems.

“The Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence is creating new opportunities in the market but it requires creativity and collaboration across multiple boundaries and no single company is capable of changing the market dynamics all by itself. Co-innovation is key to business success in this dynamic environment and we are engaging with tech startups to drive innovation”, said Helmut Gassel, Chief Marketing Officer at Infineon.

The Co-Innovation Space located in the same building will increase the interaction between the start-ups and Infineon’s engineers. For a period of one year, these start-ups will be literally hand-held and again a new batch will be selected for the next year.

“We are not just providing a workstation for these start-ups but it is more of a year-long commitment backed by technologies, expertise and guidance from our team in Singapore and around the world. We are engaging with them on a more connected level and work with them on a daily basis and give them the much-needed end-to-end support – which I believe is more important than just funding,” said Chua Chee Seong, President and Managing Director of Infineon Asia Pacific.

Experts in the company will provide start-ups with training and guidance in design thinking, business innovation thinking, access to Infineon’s research and development (R&D) and manufacturing facilities, and connections to major Infineon partners and customers in the region.

“Working closely together with the start-ups gives us the opportunity to understand their mind-set, exchange knowledge while providing them with access to technologies, and help create a network of partners and customers around the world. Through the Infineon Co-Innovation Space, we look forward to new products and disruptive technologies that will impact the world and make life easier, safer and greener for society,” he added.

“This is a great learning experience for us too and once this is successful, we will re-create this experiment with other regions,” he added.

Line-up of the first four start-ups

The four selected start-ups at this first Infineon Co-Innovation Space will be creating products for a variety of industries and markets across developing and developed nations. They are:

• Ampotech, a start-up that collects and analyses data of power and energy consumption of spaces and equipment in real-time and creates hardware and software solutions to improve energy efficiencies.

• SHADO, a company that develop zero carbon emission vehicles like the Personal Mobility Devices for short distance commute and offers complete end-to-end fleet charging and fleet management solutions for Asia’s mobility needs.

• Plunify, an electronic design automation (EDA) company, aims to create on-premise and cloud-based design optimization tools and services for electronics manufacturers around the world.

• Xnergy, a start-up that works on wireless “power transfer and charging technologies for autonomous devices, including mobile robots and mobility vehicles.

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