Sona Comstar partners Israel’s Drive to accelerate high-tech innovation

India’s Sona Comstar has partnered with Drive TLV, an Israel-based innovation hub focused on smart mobility solutions. The partnership with DRIVE will give Sona Comstar access to Israel's hi-tech mobility start-up ecosystem.

With this move, Sona Comstar joins a select group of Drive TLV's automotive partners, which includes Volvo Cars, Volvo Group, Honda Xcelerator and Denso. Sona Comstar will supplement its R&D efforts with collaboration with hi‐tech start‐ups from Israel to further its vision for a greener and smarter mobility future.

Drive TLV collaborates with a select group of partners in the mobility industry. These partners rely on DRIVE to bring top emerging technologies to them and tailor solutions to their needs. With its experience and network in the mobility realm, deep knowledge of each partner's assets, and the ability to back the partnership with focused investments, DRIVE can create effective matches between its partners and promising start-ups based on the real market needs. Drive TLV has helped more than 50 mobility-focused start-ups raise more than $2 billion to develop and commercialize new technologies since 2017.

Sona Comstar, which is an innovation-led automotive technology company, aims to capture new opportunities in the mobility world which is fast transitioning to electrification, connected, autonomous and shared mobility. The company says it is “developing multiple new products for advanced mobility applications by supplementing our strong R&D efforts with strategic partnerships with innovative start-ups.”

As an innovation-hub partner, Sona Comstar can participate in DRIVE's start-up commercialisation program, FASTLANE. Further, it will have access to DRIVE's new testing, evaluation and development centre, POWER.

According to Kiran M Deshmukh, Group CTO of Sona Comstar, "Israel is one of the global hubs for smart mobility innovation. Drive TLV's accelerator, prototyping lab, and shared workspace encourage innovation, networking, and collaboration with mobility-focused technology start-ups. Our partnership with Drive will help us speed up our innovation processes as we look to expand our collaboration with the Israeli hi-tech ecosystem in the mobility space."

Itay Erel, CEO of Drive TLV said, “We are thrilled to partner with Sona Comstar, Drive's first India- based partner. Sona Comstar is a forward-thinking and innovative organization that is  focused on expanding their offering into new domains. There is no doubt that our new partnership will create exciting opportunities for Sona Comstar as well as for start-ups and fellow partners in Drive's ecosystem. "