co-pace

Rolf Prestel, Managing Partner, leads the investment team. He reports to an internal investment committee that operates with delegated authority from Continental AG's executive board. The committee includes both co-pace investment professionals and senior Continental business-unit leaders to ensure strategic alignment.

co-pace sources through Continental's global network of engineering centers, supplier relationships, and customer collaborations. The firm leverages Continental's presence in over 60 countries to identify startups working on technologies relevant to the automotive supply chain, often before those startups engage broadly with institutional investors. Co-investment partnerships with independent VCs provide additional deal-flow channels.

co-pace is a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental AG but operates with its own investment committee and team-level carried interest. This hybrid model gives it balance-sheet permanence through its corporate parent while adopting compensation structures designed to retain venture talent. The firm makes autonomous investment decisions within its mandate, though portfolio companies often enter commercial relationships with Continental business units.

co-pace primarily executes direct equity investments and co-investments alongside lead institutional VCs, typically at seed and Series A stages. There is no public record of co-pace making LP commitments into third-party funds. Its structure as a corporate strategic investor incentivizes direct engagement with portfolio companies for potential technology adoption, supplier qualification, or joint development.

The firm targets seed through Series A rounds, occasionally extending into Series B where Continental can serve as a meaningful industrial partner. Initial check sizes range from €1 million to €5 million, with reserves for follow-on participation in subsequent rounds alongside syndicate partners. The firm does not pursue growth-stage or buyout transactions.

co-pace concentrates on mobility-adjacent deep technology: autonomous vehicle perception, sensor fusion, lidar and radar systems, vehicle connectivity, electric vehicle infrastructure, and industrial digitization. The firm has also invested in AI acceleration hardware for edge inference. It avoids pure consumer internet, biotech, and financial services.

co-pace functions as Continental's dedicated corporate venture capital entity, separate from the company's internal R&D and M&A functions. The firm sits within Continental's strategy portfolio and provides a mechanism for external innovation scouting. Portfolio companies may become suppliers, technology partners, or acquisition candidates for Continental's automotive, tire, and ContiTech divisions, but those outcomes are not contractually mandated.