“Startups, With Their Entrepreneurial Mindset And Nimbleness, Often Hold The Key To Innovation”

TE Connectivity recently partnered with the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) Startup Hub to launch an accelerator programme in India. In an interesting conversation with Electronics For You’s Yashasvini Razdan, Rahul Mathur, Director, revealed the company’s plans as an accelerator for startups

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Q. How has the Indian market evolved in recent years, and how has TE adapted its focus to cater to the specific needs of the Indian market?

A. The Indian market has historically faced challenges due to its relatively small size and slow growth. However, over the past few years, there has been a significant shift in this landscape. The importance of India for an industrial technology company like TE has been steadily growing, leading to a significant shift in the landscape. TE has recognised this change and actively focuses on the Indian market. We are now able to cater to the specific needs of the Indian market by offering India-specific solutions. This involves working closely with our OEM customers to understand their requirements and developing products tailored to the Indian market. This increased focus on India has been a key area of emphasis for us recently.

Q. Could you give me more details about your collaboration with BCIC?

A. We intend to be ‘venture clients’ for these startups and enable them to work on their PoC or prototypes in our manufacturing facility. We want them to develop products and new technologies for India and the globe. BCIC will provide the business framework, external support, and consultation so TE can run this programme. The framework allows us to select the right startups and provide support in areas such as business mentoring or connecting them with academia or other technology partners in the industry. So, that is what BCIC is doing—building the ecosystem to support the startup’s needs.

TE will connect the startups directly to the business by driving it. We’ll be the sponsors, and they will be the users. This way, their use cases and projects won’t be limited to research and development or a PoC (proof of concept). They can work directly with businesses and even scale globally, if possible.

Q. In this collaborative project with BCIC, would you call yourself an accelerator or an incubator?

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