T-hub and Suzuki Partner to Support Indian Entrepreneurs in Accessing Japan’s Ecosystem

• T-Hub and Suzuki Innovation Center Partner to promote open-innovation between India and Japan
• Aims to provide technology-driven startups access to capital, mentorship, and access to India and Japan .
• Startups receive exposure in sectors such as sustainability, rural development, supply chain, agritech, andmobility.

T-Hub, which leads India’s innovation ecosystem, today announced its partnership with Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), a leading corporation in the automobile sector to accelerate the growth of the Indian start-up ecosystem. With this collaborative partnership, T-Hub Suzuki Motor Corporation, aims to provide mentoring and support Indian entrepreneurs to access Japan’s ecosystem.

Suzuki Innovation Center (SIC), which is an open innovation platform, will provide growth opportunities to T-Hub incubated start-ups. In addition, SIC provides an open platform for new connections and innovation between India and Japan among academia, industries, and startups. Entrepreneurs will get to engage and innovate with universities and industries from India as well as Japan in domains of sustainability, rural development, supply chain, agritech, and mobility . T-Hub through its robust innovation ecosystem will help SIC to gain exposure to a variety of innovative solutions from startups and help them boost their experiences and expertise in the innovation ecosystem. T-Hub and SIC will collaborate on events, leadership opportunities, workshops, and mentoring to bridge the gap between the Japan and Indian startup ecosystem.

MSR (Mahankali Srinivas Rao), CEO of T-Hub, said, “Through our partnership with Suzuki Motor Corporation, we are aiming to address broad challenges on and beyond mobility, in India and Japan, on top of the synergistic combination of technology and design. The partnership will empower T-Hub entrepreneurs to scale globally enduring homegrown technology startups with access to mentorship, and guidance from Suzuki Innovation Centre.”

The MoU was signed in the presence of Mr. Hideaki Domichi, Former ambassador Japan to India, and Director, Suzuki Motor Corporation, Mr. Kinji Saito, Director and Senior Managing Officer, Global Automobile Marketing, Suzuki Motor Corporation, Mr. Vipul Jindal, Execution Head, Suzuki Innovation Center, Mr. Srinivas Rao Mahankali, Chief Executive Officer, T-Hub, Ms. Prathyusha Koneti, Head – Corporate Innovation, T-Hub

Spokesperson, Suzuki Motor Corporation said, “Our partnership with T-Hub will synergize the startup ecosystem between India and Japan. Suzuki`s latest initiative, ‘Suzuki Innovation Center (SIC)’ will play an instrumental role in promoting open-innovation with startups along with support of partners like T-Hub”, said Mr. Kinji Saito, Director and Senior Managing Officer Global Automobile Marketing, Suzuki Motor Corporation.”

This one-year agreement will act as a catalyst revolutionizing open innovation and creating global avenues for the Indian Startup ecosystem. In addition, this will enable T-hub startups to access various benefits such as-validating their solutions, building POC (Proof-of-Concept), funding opportunities and access to a vast pool of global networks.

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.

T-Hub (Technology Hub) is an innovation hub and ecosystem enabler. Based out of Hyderabad, India, T-Hub leads India’s pioneering innovation ecosystem and is the world’s largest innovation campus. Over the six years, T-Hub has pivoted around the 6Ms (Mentorship, Money, Market Access, Motivation, Mindset, Manpower) and 2Ps (Partnerships & Policy advisory) framework with a mission of driving results and collaboration for entrepreneurs’ success. It has delivered 100+ innovation programs so far, creating an impact for startups, corporations, and other innovation ecosystem stakeholders. Since inception, it has provided over 2000 national and international startups with access to better technology, talent, mentors, customers, corporates, investors, and government agencies.

Since the founding of Suzuki Motor Corporation, Suzuki has always pursued providing 'value-packed products' as one of its manufacturing philosophies. Realizing that the value differs according to the times, country and lifestyle, Suzuki is fully determined to challenge the creativity to make such products for customers around the world with its advanced technologies and enthusiasm.

Suzuki Innovation Center

Suzuki Innovation Center (SIC) is an initiative, supported by Suzuki Motor Corporation (Japan) and Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH). The goal of the center is to promote open innovation and collaboration between industries, academia and startups between India and Japan leveraging 40 years of experience of Suzuki in both the countries. The center will focus on domains such as sustainability, rural development, supply chain, agritech, and mobility. The center will also have programs for human resource exchange between both the countries as well as networking events where multiple stakeholders will get opportunities to meet and connect. SIC advocates the power of ideas, people and open collaboration. https://www.globalsuzuki.com/corporate/

Omidyar Network India Launches 'The Bold Ones' Video Series as a Tribute to Indian Entrepreneurs

Business Wire India
Omidyar Network India, an investment firm focused on social impact, today launched an 11 part video series ‘The Bold Ones – Innovating For The Next Half Billion.’ The show features stories of some of the country’s boldest entrepreneurs who are contributing towards creating a meaningful life for every Indian. It highlights their personal stories as they dared to dream, overcome challenges and build tech-led innovations that drive social impact.

‘The Bold Ones’ series is a tribute to the spirit of innovative entrepreneurship and those who are building for the 500 million-plus Indians coming online for the first time via their mobile phone, a segment often referred to as the ‘Next Half Billion’, or NHB. It unfolds over 9-minute video essays highlighting the stories of a mix of for-profit and non-profit startups in varied sectors such as Education (Doubtnut, Vedantu), Financial Inclusion (Indifi), Emerging Technology (IntrCity, Bijak, Credr) Governance and Citizen Engagement (E-Gov) and Property Rights (Transerve, FES, Sitara). Through detailed interviews, use of archival footage and animation, each episode aims to inform viewers on issues faced by the NHB, show how tech-led ventures can alleviate these problem areas, as well as inspire young professionals to embody the entrepreneurial spirit at the centre of driving these changes. All episodes are now available on theboldones.in

The series brings together producer, entrepreneur and 4-time Emmy Award winner Francis Lyons, former global head of innovation at CNN, Ben Marks, emerging director, Mriidu Khosla as well as Gruff Animation, a studio that has worked with American director, Tim Burton.

Reflecting on what compelled him to tell these stories, Francis Lyons said, “The challenges each of our subjects work on are faced by tens of millions of people everyday. From limited access to information and capital to inadequate education and unreliable public transportation, these issues affect us all whether we acknowledge it or not. Yet few of us commit our careers and lives to finding sustainable solutions to these problems. The Bold Ones is our attempt to both recognize and humanise the innovators who do. Highlighting the varied journeys, motivations, and even personal vulnerabilities these real-life heroes have endured chasing ‘unique’ solutions to common but critical problems, we hope more people will recognize they too can create change."

Rohan Vyavaharkar, Director, Marketing and Communications at Omidyar Network India, added, “The Bold Ones might showcase only a part of our for-profit and non-profit portfolio but embody the spirit of each and every entrepreneur who is innovating for the NHB. The show is also a tribute to the power of what each Indian is capable of building and achieving, and we hope this will also help inspire some budding entrepreneurs into building more inclusive solutions.”

The series has been published on ONI’s website and LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube social media handles.

For more details and to view the videos please visit Omidyar Network India website.

Henley & Partners: Entrepreneurs Opt for Domicile Diversification in Covid-19 Era

Image - Henleyglobal.com

LONDON, March 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The significant global volatility driven by Covid-19 has led to a spike in affluent entrepreneurs and international investors building geographically diversified domicile portfolios through residence- and citizenship-by-investment in a bid to overcome the limitations and risks of being restricted to a single residence.

In the past eight months, Henley & Partners has seen a 32% increase in the daily average number of enquiries compared to the first six months of 2020. The shifts in the predominant nationalities who are interested in investment migration are eye opening — with the most astonishing being a 192% leap in enquiries from US citizens in 2020 compared to the previous year. Enquiries from Canadians are up 34%, and there have been 29% and 26% more enquiries from UK and French nationals, respectively.

Dr. Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, says ultra-high-net-worth individuals from the world's most advanced economies are opting for an integrated investment migration portfolio of complementary citizenship and residence options to create optimal value and mitigate risk in terms of where they and their families can live, work, study, and invest. "It's a classic case of not putting all your eggs in one basket. The majority of program options include the whole family, and many extend to parents and even to grandparents and siblings. The more jurisdictions you can access, the more diversified your assets and opportunities, and the lower your exposure to country-specific risks such as poor health security, increased tax rates or unexpected policy changes."

The growing interest in securing a suite of domicile options to improve the resilience of portfolios and ensure physical and financial longevity and legacy in the wake of the pandemic is a world-wide phenomenon, according to Dominic Volek, Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners. "This is about taking a truly global perspective, and the best way to do that is to have a diversified portfolio — a range of locations where you, your family and extended family, and your assets can be based, giving you alternative business, career, educational, healthcare, and lifestyle opportunities on a worldwide scale."

"There are many options that cater for large, multi-generational families who don't necessarily want or need to be in the same location. For example, a successful tech entrepreneur could apply for Australia's Global Talent Independent Visa to obtain permanent residence there. The children have their sights set on studying in Europe or the UK, so they also apply for the UK Investor Immigration Program or the Portugal Golden Residence Permit Program. The retired parents, on the other hand, would prefer to spend time in Thailand, so they could apply for the Thailand Elite Residence Program, which has an option that includes multiple dependents. Covid-19 has reminded us that we need to take a long-term strategic approach, not make a mad dash to the emergency exit when things go wrong in our current place of residence."

Media Contact:
Paddy Blewer
Head of Communications
paddy.blewer@henleyglobal.com