TE News: TE launches its first start-up accelerator program in India

TE Connectivity (TE), a world leader in connectivity and sensors, has collaborated with the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) Start-up Hub to launch its first accelerator program in India. The program is designed to promote and accelerate start-ups initially in the energy and electrification, smart cities, and IoT domains, by providing them with mentorship support, access to resources, and a global network.

The program was launched at a recent event conducted by TE and BCIC with the support of TiE Bangalore (Indus Ventures) on "Future of Mobility and Emerging Opportunities.” Attendees were addressed by Ralf Klädtke, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at TE and Dr. S. Devarajan, Senior Vice President, BCIC, and Senior Vice President, TVS Motors Company Limited, and Ravikiran Annaswamy, CEO & co-founder of Numocity, who shared their insights on the future of mobility and best manufacturing practices.

Rahul Mathur, Director at TE, said, “We look at India as an opportunity to not just innovate in India for India but also for the globe. We are excited to continue building our capabilities at our innovation hubs in Bangalore and Pune, where we currently have more than 1,200 product engineers, co-located at state-of-the-art labs and working on some of the most exciting technologies. We believe launching an accelerator in Bangalore’s entrepreneurial ecosystem will help develop capabilities and drive innovation. In collaboration with BCIC Start-up Hub, the program includes specific models to provide guidance and mentorship support for the start-ups and will also help them to discover possible support for global exposure through our network. We aim to share our experience and success with the start-ups, helping to fuel the next stage of their entrepreneur journey.”

“The future of mobility will create a completely new ecosystem of electrified mobility with autonomous shuttles/trucks, software-defined vehicles, autonomous safety, seamless vehicle to everything, V2X communication, mobility pods, electrified air taxis, micro-mobility and many others,” Klädtke said. “The speed of technological change is very high and electric vehicles were just the first of many technology disruptions. For one to thrive in this new normal, innovation and speed are essential. As a result, growing our
collaboration with start-ups and developing win-win partnerships is a top focus for us at TE.”

“Mobility is life,” Devarajan said. “India is taking a multi-focus approach on net zero through the Panchamrit principle. A combined co-opted approach toward net zero by manufacturers, suppliers and start-ups that involves improving product and process technologies like light weighting will enable our next steps. We must draw out strategies and action plans for the coming years to ensure a better environment for our next generation.”

 TE Connectivity India will offer innovative solutions to help start-ups to optimize designs, reduce costs, improve performance, and enhance the user experience. TE’s technical mentors will provide guidance to design new components to meet customer needs. BCIC Start-up Hub will be fostering collaboration between start-ups, subject-matter experts, technology firms, and research institutions to overcome market challenges faced by entrepreneurs. They will be facilitating collaboration with research institutions to leverage innovative research in creating market-ready products.

If you are interested to participate in the accelerator program, connect with Rahul Mathur at rkmathur@te.com