Maruti Suzuki India Limited and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) will jointly nurture and mentor 26 startups in the mobility sector through up to a nine-month long incubation program.
The two organisation said the selected startups will undergo a three-month pre-incubation journey during which they will be engaged in various peer-to-peer learning activities besides regular one-on-one mentoring and advisory sessions.
The ventures will be allowed to pitch for incubation and funding and the selected ones will be taken forward for a further six-month incubation journey.
“Through our partnership with IIM Bangalore, we are excited to foster and encourage some of the most innovative startups in the country,” Kenichi Ayukawa, MD and chief executive of Maruti Suzuki India said in a statement.
The incubation program will help the startups become large scale businesses, and also help industry with practical and technology-led solutions that bring efficiency and value to business functions, Ayukawa added.
“Mobility is evolving at a rapid pace in India and is projected to reach 90 billion by 2030, with significant growth expected in ride hailing, shared mobility and more. We are therefore proud to collaborate with Maruti Suzuki, who we share a similar drive with, in developing mobility solutions for a better and more connected future,” said Venkatesh Panchapagesan, chairperson at N.S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning at IIM Bangalore
“Together we aim to deliver fresh thinking and innovative solutions to the existing mobility ecosystem. Maruti Suzuki, with its vast experience and market leadership in the automotive industry, will be able to significantly contribute to the development of the ventures, here at NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore, and the start-up ecosystem overall,” added Panchapagesan.
This article was first published on livemint.com