Scantinel Photonics strengthens its advisory board with a former top manager from the automotive industry

Ulm, Germany, August 11, 2021 – Scantinel Photonics, a startup that develops and manufactures FMCW LiDAR sensors (Light Detection and Ranging) for next-generation autonomous vehicle (AV) LiDAR systems, has appointed Karl Haupt as Chairman of the Advisory Board. After receiving tremendous support from Zeiss Ventures and recently Scania Growth Capital, Scantinel has secured the commitment from Karl Haupt, a prominent leader in the automotive industry. Most recently, Mr. Haupt was Head of Driver Assistance Systems at Continental for seven years. Prior to that, he held various management positions in several business units and central functions within Continental.

Karl Haupt: The expert for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)

Dipl.-Ing. Karl Haupt has worked in various management roles at Continental for more than 36 years. Under his leadership, sales in driver assistance systems areas increased five times between 2013 and 2019. He is therefore recognized as a proven expert in the automotive industry. Above all, his expertise in assistance systems makes him the perfect chairman of the advisory board. With his business and engineering knowledge, he is the ideal leader to advise Scantinel. LiDAR is considered a key ADAS component, and Scantinel's sensors can be used for obstacle detection and avoidance, object detection and tracking, and simultaneous localization and mapping. Autonomous cars and trucks, robo-taxis and -buses or unmanned industrial vehicles can use LiDAR sensors to detect objects up to 300 meters away, even under challenging environmental conditions such as fog, snow, or dust. The FMCW LiDAR technology will help autonomous driving achieve a unprecedented breakthrough and, according to experts, displace the Time of Light (TOF) systems currently in use from the market.

"We are very pleased and proud that we were able to bring Karl Haupt on board," says Andy Zott, Technical Managing Director and Co-Founder of Scantinel. "This gives us a real insider in our ranks, and we will benefit from his expertise."

"The appointment of Karl Haupt shows that the automotive industry really counts on us," says Dr. Michael Richter, Commercial Managing Director of Scantinel. "With the support of ZEISS and the latest financing round from Scania Growth Capital, Karl Haupt's commitment is further proving that we are being trusted when it comes to future mass production."

I was immediately impressed by Scantinel's technology. I don't know any other company that is so advanced in the development of FMCW LiDAR systems. That's why I'm very glad to contribute my experience here.

Karl Haupt