T-Hub and Renault Nissan Technology & Business Centre India (RNTBCI) To Connect Startups with Industry Experts through Innovation Program

• The partnership aims to leverage the creative potential of Indian tech startups.
• T-Hub Appoints Sujit Jagirdar as new Chief Innovation Officer (CIO).

T-Hub, India's leading innovation ecosystem, has today announced its strategic partnership with Renault Nissan Technology Business Centre India (RNTBCI), a global technical and development centre for the Open Innovation Challenge. The collaboration aims to run a corporate innovation program that will connect startups with leading industry experts, provide proof-of-concept (PoC) grants, and facilitate engagement with startups for industry-driven use cases.

This partnership between T-Hub and RNTBCI will explore and leverage the creative potential of Indian tech startups in the thriving innovation ecosystem. T-Hub's extensive network and expertise in nurturing startups will enable RNTBCI to connect with leading technological startups possessing unique skills aligned with the Renault Nissan tech innovation strategy. By tapping into T-Hub's vast innovation ecosystem, RNTBCI aims to enhance its innovation capabilities and foster the growth of disruptive solutions within the mobility market.

Through this collaboration, T-Hub startups will have the opportunity to receive mentorship from Renault Nissan Tech experts, engage in paid PoC projects, and pitch their innovative solutions to the corporate leadership at RENAULT NISSAN. This exchange of knowledge and resources will enable startups to further develop their products and gain exposure to potential customers and investors.

Mahankali Srinivas Rao (MSR), CEO, T-Hub, said, “We are delighted to join forces with Renault Nissan Technology Business Centre India (RNTBCI) to foster innovation and empower startups in India. By joining forces, we aim to create a vibrant ecosystem that nurtures cutting-edge solutions and propels India's tech startup landscape to new heights. This partnership reaffirms our commitment to catalyzing the success of startups and propelling India's position as a global innovation hub."

Debashis Neogi, Managing Director, RNTBCI, said, “Today’s mobility market is moving at a high pace of disruption with innovation as key business strategy. Innovation helps companies grow, differentiates amongst the competition, and keeps them profitable. It is important to leverage the technological potential of the fast-growing start-up ecosystem in India by collaborating with young tech start-ups. This collaboration with T-Hub will help promote the innovation ecosystem, supporting technology driven start-ups.”

In addition to this exciting partnership, T-Hub announced the appointment of Sujit Jagirdar as its new Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) in a press conference today. With over 20 years of experience in IT and Business Process Consulting, Digital Transformation rollouts, and Designing Innovative Solutions, Sujit Jagirdar is a passionate leader who aims to promote open innovation by enabling collaboration and co-creation amongst corporates, startups, technology hubs and the academia. As a CIO, Sujit will focus on driving strategic engagements with corporates, ecosystem enablers, government bodies, and startups both nationally and internationally. Sujit Jagirdar plans to position T-Hub as India's pioneering innovation ecosystem, driving integrated solutions to achieve the organization's revenue goals.

Sujit Jagirdar, Chief Innovation Officer (CIO), T-Hub, said, “I am excited to join T-Hub as the Chief Innovation Officer. T-Hub has established itself as a world class hub of entrepreneurial talent and innovation, and I am keen to contribute to its mission of fostering ground-breaking solutions addressing some of the pressing business and societal challenges. ”

T-Hub’s programs have been successfully scaling startups in partnership with a robust ecosystem of partners. T-Hub, to date, has impacted over 2000 startups through various programs and initiatives, has over 600 global and national corporate partners and has provided 2000 mentor connects to help the startup scale. T-Hub will continue to drive collaboration between startups and leading innovation ecosystems worldwide, providing global market-access opportunities to startups.

ABOUT T-HUB

T-Hub (Technology Hub) is an innovation hub and ecosystem enabler. Based out of Hyderabad, India, T-Hub leads India’s pioneering innovation ecosystem. With a mission of enabling and empowering an ecosystem hungry for innovation, T-Hub is creating impact for startups, corporations, and other innovation ecosystem stakeholders. Incorporated in 2015, it has provided over 1800 national and international startups with access to better technology, talent, mentors, customers, corporates, investors, and government agencies. It has elevated innovation for leading national and global corporations, transforming their business models for the better. Working in collaboration with innovation partners and enablers in Telangana, India and worldwide, T-Hub is building a future-ready innovation ecosystem.

For more information about T-Hub, visit www.t-hub.co.

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About RNTBCI

Renault Nissan Technology & Business Centre India (Renault Nissan Tech) is a captive automotive technology and business centre, supporting Renault and Nissan globally. Established in 2007, it is in Mahindra World City, Chennai, India and employs over 9500 workforce. There are three major verticals – Engineering, Information System and Information Technology (IS/IT), and Global Business Services. Engineering is involved in global and local vehicle development for local and global markets from concept to production. Apart from vehicle development, Engineering contributes to digital acceleration working on Simulation, Software Defined Vehicles and Digital Twins. IS/IT is global end-to-end application development division, contributing to the digital transformation of Renault and Nissan with a pole of competencies on AI/ML, data, cloud, IoT, and cyber-security contributing to transformation topics. Global Business Services provide Financial and Human Resource support to global Renault and Nissan. The Centre is one of the biggest OEM Automotive Technology Centres in India.

For more information about Renault Nissan Tech, visit https://rntbci.in/

CapGrid, Automotive Sourcing Startup, Raises $ 7 Mn in Series A Round Led by Nexus Venture

CapGrid, a B2B cloud manufacturing start-up for precision parts & components, announced today that it has raised $ 7 million in its latest funding round, led by Nexus Venture Partners.

The round also saw participation from existing investors Axilor and Anicut Capital. Deepak Jain, a senior Partner at Bain and head of the automotive practice in India, also participated as angel investor in the round.

CapGrid is building a digital supply network with an advance technology infrastructure, partnering with hundreds of Tier 2 manufacturers to get precision parts & components sourced, manufactured and delivered to customer’s assembly line. CapGrid’s deep capabilities in illuminating and tapping into the available capacity of QC-certified Tier 2 suppliers enables it to become a cloud manufacturer and aggregate supplier to Automotive and EV OEMs and Tier 1s. To be able to cater to manufacturers across the country, CapGrid partners with warehousing and logistics players in an asset light model to be able to deliver to the customer’s assembly line.

CapGrid’s customer list has leading players from across 2W, 3W, 4W, Tractor, Construction equipment manufacturers and large automotive Tier 1s. For these customers, CapGrid through various offerings e.g. regular procurement consolidation, NPD (New Product Development), SPD (Spare Parts) sourcing and Electric Vehicle component sourcing, becomes an aggregate supplier. CapGrid has been able to reduce the supply chain complexity by ~90%, reduce procurement cost to zero and material cost by 3-5% for its customers.

CapGrid is currently getting 5,000+ different precision components manufactured through its supplier network of 300+ partners and fulfilling it to customer’s assembly line seamlessly owning delivery and quality in the process. Globally this segment is worth $1,000 Bn+ in the automotive space itself. CapGrid is committed to utilizing this fresh funding infusion to deepen its technology infrastructure, talent acquisition and scale up cloud manufacturing with its supply partners.

Speaking on the funding round, Cofounder & CEO, Dheeraj says “We have digitalized the entire Source-to-Deliver process. CapGrid is working closely with multiple automotive and industrial manufacturers as a strategic partner for the supply of precision parts & components. Our technology stack and supplier aggregation capability helps customers reduce operational complexity and focus on innovation. With our decentralized global supply network, we can cater to direct material needs to OEMs and Tier 1s across the globe.”

Himanshu, Cofounder and COO, who closely works with the supplier ecosystem says, “CapGrid has illuminated manufacturing capabilities of 30,000+ suppliers across 15 countries and identified thousands of suppliers operating at 50-60% capacity. We allow them to focus, utilize and innovate on their core manufacturing capabilities by bringing aggregated manufacturing demand.”

Sameer Brij Verma, Managing Director at Nexus Venture Partners, expressed that “We at Nexus are very excited about partnering with CapGrid as they revolutionise precision components sourcing and procurement for the automotive manufacturing sector via their robust network of cloud manufacturers. They are already working with leading OEMs on strategic initiatives like indigenisation, light-weighting, EV transition, procurement consolidation and value engineering. We see India being a global leader in manufacturing in the years ahead and feel CapGrid will increasingly be a partner of choice for OEMs looking to build high quality and agile supply chain while improving margins and OTIF significantly.”

Vyom Agarwal, Sr. Vice President at ACE (Action Construction Equipment ltd.), says that “There is a need to reduce the operational complexity of automotive and industrial manufacturing. We have engaged CapGrid as a single window in place of a cluster of suppliers mainly in hardware category to reduce our inventory, consolidate our buying and bring down supply chain complexity. ”

Intequant advisors acted as exclusive Financial advisors while JSA Law and Sarvaank Associates was legal and secretarial advisor.

About CapGrid-

CapGrid is an end-to-end source-to-deliver company for the low complexity direct material spend focused on the automotive and industrial manufacturers. The company leverages an AI-enabled sourcing platform with more than 30,000 manufacturers and their deep capability intelligence to run sourcing 10X faster. They have been able to reduce the sourcing and procurement complexity significantly, reduce inventory by half and reduce material cost by 5% for leading manufacturers. The innovative idea of starting such a venture was incorporated in December 2019 and it became functional in January 2021.

Headquartered in Gurgaon, company also has office in Bangalore and warehouses in Hosur, Rajkot, Jaipur and Faridabad. CapGrid was founded by Dheeraj Kumar Tiwari and Himanshu Singh Raghuvanshi. The two founders have extensively worked with manufacturers in India, the US, and Japan for more than ten years. They are both former management consultants. The founders saw a gap in the market globally where manufacturers were carrying out intricate direct material procurement procedures manually and slowly and, based on their observation, they used their expertise to overcome this flaw. This is when CapGrid was incepted.

INR 4 Mn Grant Opportunity for Automotive Startups As T-Hub Ties with Renault Nissan Technology & Business Centre India

With an aim to bolster the growing automotive ecosystem and support startups, T-Hub and Renault Nissan Technology and Business Centre India (RNTBCI) partnered for the Open Innovation Challenge.

Along with the grant, the four winning startups will get an opportunity to pitch in front of Renault Nissan Technology and Business Centre India (RNTBCI) leadership and access their global mentorship network.

T-Hub, which pioneers India’s leading innovation ecosystem, today announced its partnership with Renault Nissan Technology and Business Centre India (RNTBCI), a global technical and development centre for the Open Innovation Challenge. Through this partnership, RNTBCI will partner with some of the most innovative automotive startups scouted by T-Hub. With an aim to bolster the growing automotive ecosystem, the winning startups will get an opportunity to pitch in front of RNTBCI leadership and access their global mentorship network.

The program offers the startups an opportunity to participate under four themes - First and Last Mile Connectivity, Digitisation, Mobility as a Service with social impact (MaaS) and Circular economy. Six to eight startups will be shortlisted for each theme out of which four startups will win INR 1 million grant each and receive co-working opportunities with RNTBCI.

MSR, CEO, T-Hub said, "T-Hub with our corporate partnerships aims to help startups incorporate domain expertise to deliver cutting-edge solutions to the market. We are excited to partner with RNTBCI (Renault Nissan Technology and Business Centre India) as they bring incredible expertise in their sector and a clear focus that will help startups create breakthrough solutions for the global automotive market. Together we look forward to creating an impact for our startup community."

The program will focus on automotive space including AI, IoT, blockchain, robotic process automation (RPA), electrification, big data, AR/VR, application development, cloud-based, materials, alternative fuel etc. Growth stage startups with Minimum Viable Product (MVP) ready, in Electric vehicle (EV), Automated vehicle (AV) and Assistive technology (AT) technology, bio-based materials, internet of waste, re-use, upcycle anywhere from India, can apply for the program here.

Debashis Neogi, Managing Director, RNTBCI said, "We are glad to announce the maiden Renault Nissan Open Innovation Challenge in India in association with T-Hub. Innovation should be the topmost priority of India, as a country with lots of young talents and booming start-ups. We want to trigger the thinking! I see a great potential to create out-of-the-box and business viable solutions through this challenge."

The shortlisted startups will be able to derive diverse benefits from the program such as mentoring and learning from leaders in the automotive giants, and co-working space at T-Hub with exclusive access to state-of-art design and product development resources. They will also receive an opportunity to co-create a paid Proof of Concept (PoC) and find a new use case for their existing solutions. T-Hub will be facilitating the program through hybrid mode and provide support to the participating startups by refining pitch decks and displaying demonstrations.

Furthermore, T-Hub will bring world-class industry experts, mentors, and business scaling opportunities for shortlisted startups. The program will conclude with T-Hub and RNTBCI disbursing grants to the final four startups for the development of their Proof of Concepts (PoCs).

T-Hub (Technology Hub) is an innovation hub and ecosystem enabler. Based out of Hyderabad, India, T-Hub leads India’s pioneering innovation ecosystem. With a mission of enabling and empowering an ecosystem hungry for innovation, T-Hub is creating an impact for startups, corporations, and other innovation ecosystem stakeholders. Incorporated in 2015, it has provided over 1800+ national and international startups with access to better technology, talent, mentors, customers, corporates, investors, and government agencies. It has elevated innovation for leading national and global corporations, transforming their business models for the better. Working in collaboration with innovation partners and enablers in Telangana, India and worldwide, T-Hub is building a future-ready innovation ecosystem.

Media contacts: pr@T-Hub.co

Renault Nissan Technology and Business Centre India (RNTBCI) is a captive automotive technology and business centre supporting Renault and Nissan globally. Established in 2007, it is in Mahindra World City, Chennai, India and employs over 8,000 employees.