MG Motor India selects 6 start-ups under Developer Program & Grant programme

MG (Morris Garages) Motor India has signed up six more start-ups for its ongoing MG Developer Program & Grant. The finalists include Highway Delite, Socialcore, InCabEx, CamCom, ClearQuote, and the Alexa-based project Meeseeks. Under the programme, the start-ups will receive a grant and mentoring from technology experts, which also can lead to an opportunity to work directly with specialised MG teams on selected projects.

MG Motor India says it has already supported over 60 start-ups since 2017 to drive innovation in the automobile space. The start-ups are working in various fields including – engine & emissions, technology, child in-car safety, navigation, connectivity, and electric vehicles ecosystem alongside others. The OEM says the overall objective of the program is to support the local start-up community by creating a specialised grant.

The MG Developer Program & Grant is a part of the carmaker’s focus on innovation as a core pillar of the organisation. The initiative was launched in September 2019, in partnership with several tech giants including Adobe, Cognizant, SAP, Airtel, TomTom, Unlimit, and others, the program aims to nurture ground-breaking solutions within the Indian urban mobility space.

Speaking on the development, Rajeev Chaba, president and MD, MG Motor India said, “MG thrives on innovation and has developed a symbiotic relationship with the Indian start-up ecosystem. Our goal is to indigenously develop a comprehensive, sustainable, and smart infrastructure for urban mobility in our country. The MG Developer Program has received an overwhelming response and we welcome all teams who have been signed as a part of the initiative. We look forward to mentoring and closely working with them. MG will also explore synergies with these start-ups and may deploy their solutions in its upcoming vehicles.”

Till date the program had received over 300 entries, out of which, 60 teams were shortlisted in the first round. These teams were provided mentorship by 25 industry experts including MG India’s leadership as well as its technology ecosystem partners, which the company says makes it one of the largest mentoring programs’ in the automotive segment.

The carmaker says amongst the selected candidates, Highway Delite is India’s first free travel app to make highway travel and road trips both safe and fun. Meeseeks leverages Alexa/MG’s Voice Assistant to digitally manage and improve customer’s service experience.

Socialcore uses Artificial Intelligence to enhance customer interactions with sales improvement and cost reduction, while InCabEx creates a better in-cabin experience by personalising car profiles as per users’ preferences. CamCom is an AI-based start-up that provides defect and damage assessment while ClearQuote generates repair estimates via images/videos of a damaged car.

The 6 start-ups will be joining the already signed companies including Voxomos, Driftly, and Innvolution under the MG Developer Program & Grant.

The OEM says its journey with start-ups started back in 2017 with its first MG Innovation Hunt that was launched in partnership with TiE Delhi. Since then, MG India has conducted a total of 6 start-up programs, in partnership with start-up community and leading educational institutions, all coming together in the MG Developer Program & Grant. The various MG start-up programs have attracted over 750 applications from start-ups and innovators so far in auto tech across India.