Daimler, the Germany-headquartered carmaker that owns the Mercedes-Benz brand, will start an accelerator in Singapore in partnership with NUS Enterprise, the commercial operation of the National University of Singapore.
Daimler initiated its Startup Autobahn scheme in Stuttgart, Germany, in May 2015 in partnership with accelerator Plug and Play (PnP).
Graduates from the first Stuttgart cohort include gesture control technology developer 4tiitoo, touchscreen technology startup Canatu and TruckPad, creator of a cargo information app for truck drivers.
Startup Autobahn Singapore also features a partnership with PnP and US-based education and career services provider General Assembly. It will focus on the internet of things, artificial intelligence, location-based services, natural language processing, predictive analytics, virtual and augmented reality.
Applications for Startup Autobahn Singapore close on October 18, 2016, with a pitching day due to take place in February 2017.
News of the scheme comes days after Daimler subsidiary Mercedes-Benz Vans announced it will invest €1m ($1.1m) in a total of in three successful applicants to a startup contest it is running in connection with its AdVANce innovation initiative.