CO-PACE - Key Persons


Andrea Julian

Job Titles:
  • Partnerships Project Manager
Andrea is passionate about the complexity behind innovation, how it intertwines and reacts to markets, people, behaviors and understanding the effects that reflect in the daily life.

Christian Beuther

Job Titles:
  • Director Operations
  • Operations, Purchasing & Processes
Christian's experience in automotive innovation helps him build bridges between startups and the corporate world of Continental. At co-pace, he organizes all operational topics to ensure that the startup Proof-of-Concept projects run at high speed!

Christian Wartig

Job Titles:
  • Head of Strategy & Communications
Christian, as the driving force behind strategy and communications at co-pace, brings over 11 years of automotive experience from Continental. Having held diverse roles, including Program Management for Autonomous Driving, he enriches our team with a profound understanding of sales, business development and project management. In his role as our chief of staff, Christian provides invaluable support to our global team, ensuring seamless collaboration on all pertinent matters.

Dennis Xu

Job Titles:
  • Director
Dennis is the co-pace team member in China - a unique and divergent ecosystem that develops both locally applicable and globally relevant innovations. His gained experience in automotive and venture capital industries is ideally suited to translate business needs into innovation products and technologies and, together with startups, draw the execution path.

Dr. Chen Zhang

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Head
  • Director, Head of Ecosystem Europe, Head of Technology
Chen is passionate about connecting with tech enthusiast and energic entrepreneurs to take emerging technologies to the product roadmaps of the startups and Continental. His background in software, automation technologies and artificial intelligence is complemented by his professional work experience in the fields of ADAS and vehicle dynamics and by his interest in vehicle networking and connectivity technologies.

Elad Goldman

Job Titles:
  • Director
Elad is not new to partnerships. In fact, he brings experience from a variety of public-private partnerships and smart city initiatives. With his innovative business development skills, he drives forward collaboration opportunities while bridging the gap between the corporate world and the fast pace startup ecosystem.

Hiren Desai - VP

Job Titles:
  • Vice President
  • Vice President of Startup Partnerships
Hiren heads the partnering arm at co-pace after being our trusted advisor over the past 5 years. With a fantastic track record as a serial entrepreneur, he has successfully founded and led scaleups across various countries. Hiren's expertise extends to leading strategy and business development for autonomous mobility at Continental. He is also our architect when we want to translate a concept into a product

Ivana Pavic

Job Titles:
  • Executive
  • Project Assistant
Ivana is passionate about making processes lean in an agile and innovative work style. With her high level of organizational skills, strong communication abilities, and the capacity to multitask effectively she ensures that our purchasing processes run smoothly. She also plays an important role in ensuring that all needs of our team members and managing director are attended to.

Jürgen Bilo - Managing Director

Job Titles:
  • Managing Director
Jürgen is the biggest champion of startups at Continental, uniquely understanding their cutting-edge technologies and new business models. With his vast network both inside Continental and outside, he leverages relationships and holistic industry understanding to provide the foundation for strategic and operational partnerships between the startup ecosystem and Continental.

Neri Friedlander

Job Titles:
  • Director
Neri joins the team from Tel Aviv, but he has always had his feet in multiple countries and cultures. While he is an explorer literally, he is also one metaphorically - by stepping into the unknown of innovation fields, he brings together diverse teams to translate consumer insights, data, and technology into customer benefits.

Wilson Khoo

Job Titles:
  • Director
Wilson's drive for innovation and deep tech makes him a key driver for engagement in the Singapore and APAC ecosystem. He is an explorer that bridges the ‘valley' between technology & business, and between startups & corporates.