Infineon and AIC-Sangam to strengthen start-up growth in India

Infineon Technologies and Atal Innovation Mission’s AIC-Sangam have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to nurture technology start-ups with a focus on making lives easier, safer and greener.

 
Under the collaboration, Infineon will sponsor lab equipment and offer business and technical guidance as well as training specific to building on Infineon technology platforms. Experts from Infineon will work closely with the start-ups on prototyping and solution development at AIC-Sangam. Incubated start-ups will also have access to Infineon’s product samples and maker kits as well as workshops and events. Going forward, AIC-Sangam and Infineon will jointly identify problem statements for prospective start-ups.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vinay Shenoy, Managing Director, Infineon Technologies India said, “Infineon’s mission to make life easier, safer and greener resonates well with AIC-Sangam and start-ups like Khethworks. We build semiconductor technology to help innovative entrepreneurs realize their products and unleash the potential of their applications. By contributing towards a sustainable future for India, we are also fulfilling Infineon’s mission.”

 
Khethworks, one of the start-ups incubated at AIC-Sangam, is already working with Infineon. Khethworks aims to help small-plot farmers have unprecedented control over their lives and livelihoods through affordable and high-performance technology.

 
Commenting on the partnership with Infineon, Mr. Karthik Chandrasekhar, Co-Founder & Chairman, AIC-Sangam said, “Climate Change is the greatest challenge of our generation. Most of Climate Change is anthropogenic which makes Sangam’s investment in and incubation of entrepreneurial enterprises that are helping customers make more sustainable choices the most meaningful tool to fight Climate Change. We feel this is a shared goal between us and Infineon. We look forward to working closely with Infineon on bringing forward new climate-smart technologies for the Indian consumers or ushering in Industry 4.0 for SMEs that can lead to inclusive development and creation of communities that are resilient to climate change.”

 
Mr Ramanan Ramanathan, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog further established the importance of industry and start-up collaborations, stating, “Partnerships between international corporates and our Atal Incubation Centres enable incubated start-ups to accelerate their time to market and extend their industry reach, whilst catalysing innovation by identifying opportunities for new start-ups to be created. Such start-ups bring with them new technologies and processes and this will contribute greatly to India’s growth in the coming years. We are delighted to have Infineon Technologies partner with AIC-Sangam to support start-ups across the clean technology ecosystem.”

 
AIC-Sangam is India’s first dedicated clean technology incubator, set up as a partnership between Sangam and Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Government of India under the Atal Incubation Centre scheme. Infineon had signed a Statement of Intent with NITI Aayog in February 2018, to support the Atal Innovation Mission. Sangam Ventures is leveraging its experience as a venture capitalist to create an ecosystem for clean-tech entrepreneurship to thrive. AIC-Sangam’s team and its acceleration programming is designed to help clean-tech start-ups achieve product-market fit and scale their high impact solutions.