With an aim to nurture and enhance the overall startup ecosystem in the mobility sector, India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India has inked a pact with the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB). Under the pact, as many as 26 startups will gain guidance under a 9-month extensive incubation program.

The company, in partnership with Nadathur S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), the startup hub at IIMB, has shortlisted 26 mobility startups for a 9-month extensive incubation program, Maruti Suzuki India said in a statement on Friday. Reports inform that the incubation program will help the startups become large-scale businesses. It also aims at helping industry with practical and technology-led solutions that bring efficiency and value to business functions.

Here’s how the startups would benefit:

  1. The 26 startups have been shortlisted from over 400 applications received across the country.

  2. A selection panel comprising experts from Maruti Suzuki and NSRCEL evaluated the applicants and interviewed over 120 entrepreneurs.

  3. The incubation program will help the startups become large-scale businesses.

  4. It will also help industry with practical and technology-led solutions that bring efficiency and value to business functions.

  5. Under the programme, the selected startups will undergo a 3-month pre-incubation journey during which they will be engaged in various sessions, workshops, peer-to-peer learning activities and will receive regular one-on-one mentoring and advisory sessions, Maruti Suzuki India said.

  6. Networking events, mock-pitches and interaction with investors will be major highlights of the initiative. Post this, the ventures will be allowed to pitch for incubation and funding and the selected ventures will be taken forward for a further six-months incubation journey.

Maruti Suzuki has a vast experience and market leadership in the automotive industry. The collaboration will be able to significantly contribute to the development of the ventures at NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore. NSRCEL Chairperson Venkatesh Panchapagesan said that the collaboration would be really beneficial as the 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.

Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa said that through our partnership with IIM Bangalore, Maruti India is excited to foster and encourage some of the most innovative startups in the country.