MG Motor India Launches MG Developer Programme To Support Mobility Startups

In an attempt to support futuristic mobility solutions, MG Motor India has announced the launch of MG Developer Programme and Grant. The company has collaborated with leading technology companies such as SAP, Cognizant, Adobe, Airtel, TomTom and Unlimit. It said that the initiative is aimed at incentivising Indian innovators and developers to build futuristic mobility applications and experiences.

Under the MG Developer Programme and Grant, MG Motor India will provide innovators with an opportunity to secure mentorship and funding from industry leaders. The selected ideas will receive specialised, high-level mentoring and networking opportunities to assist with the practical development of the solution, business plan and modelling, testing facilities, go-to-market strategy, etc.

The winning ideas will also have access to a grant, the amount of which will be decided by the jury, on a case-to-case basis.

Rajeev Chaba, president and MD, MG Motor India said, “The automobile industry is currently witnessing sweeping transformations in the space of connected, electric and shared mobility. We have partnered with leading tech giants to enable start-ups to build innovative applications that would enable unique experiences for customers across the entire automotive ecosystem.”

The MG Developer Programme and Grant will initially focus on driving innovation in the following verticals: electric vehicles and components, batteries and management, charging infrastructure, connected mobility, voice recognition, AI and ML, navigation technologies, customer experiences, car buying experiences, and autonomous vehicles.

The programme will award grants ranging from INR 5 Lakh to INR 25 Lakh. The programme is open to both external developers – including students, innovators, inventors, startups and other tech companies – and internal employee teams at MG Motor and its program partners.

Recently, CEAT launched Excellerator — a competition to identify and partner with upcoming startups. The competition is expected to identify entrepreneurs that are addressing large market opportunities in new-age mobility businesses and could have a strong collaboration with CEAT. These new-age mobility businesses include connected vehicles, shared mobility services and fleet management/logistics services.

Earlier this year, India’s largest cast manufacturer Maruti Suzuki had also announced a Mobile & Automobile Innovation Lab (MAIL) to promote innovation in India for automobile and mobility space. MAIL’s mission was to identify innovatively and cutting edge solution through startups that have a futuristic and customer-oriented approach.

The Indian automotive manufacturing sector is one of the fastest-growing automotive manufacturers in the world with an annual production of nearly 4.5 Mn units in 2016 making the country the fifth-largest automobile manufacturer in the world.

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