Michelin partners with DPIIT and Startup India for its AI startup challenge

Michelin has collaborated with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry to launch the sector’s first AI Startup Challenge aimed at promoting innovation and entrepreneurship.

The AI Startup Challenge aims to select, mentor, and collaborate with leading AI startups in India. Hosted on the Startup India portal, this 12-week challenge invites startups to submit applications showcasing their capabilities. Selected startups will receive mentorship, and the top eight will make their pitches at a demo day in Delhi, this September.

The top three startups will receive paid pilot projects from Michelin, with up to Rs 5 lakh per project, and the opportunity for long-term global contracts and incubation support from Michelin leadership. The hope is that the AI challenge will go a long way in encouraging Indian Startups to co-build solutions in areas such as manufacturing, supply chain, operating software and infrastructure.

Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary, DPIIT shared, "Michelin and Startup India, through the AI Challenge, invite Indian startups to co-build technical solutions using large language models for business use cases. The Michelin AI Startup Challenge offers opportunities to develop solutions in manufacturing, supply chain, operating software, and infrastructure, leveraging AI and robotics to enhance manufacturing processes, improve product quality, boost safety, and reduce defects."

Sumeet Kumar Jarangal, Director, DPIIT spoke about the importance of AI and the government's focus on advanced manufacturing and automation. He congratulated the Michelin team for developing a program completely synergistic with the nation's vision.

This initiative will be conducted in multiple stages, starting with outreach and applications in July 2024, followed by shortlisting and mentorship until September 2024. The grand finale will feature shortlisted startups presenting their solutions to a panel of judges from Startup India and Michelin India.

The AI challenge also marks a significant initiative within Michelin's broader innovation program in India, focusing on fostering collaboration with local startups in digitalization, commercialisation, mobility, advanced materials, and sustainability.

This collaboration between DPIIT and Michelin India is an important catalyst in providing manufacturing startups the platform to pilot and finetune their technologies, allowing for larger participation in the manufacturing ecosystem by startups. It will also act as a catalyst to further the positioning of Bharat as a manufacturing nation through partnership between public and private sector.