Airbus global aerospace accelerator to set up innovation centre in Kerala

Airbus BizLab India, a global aerospace accelerator which is part of Airbus, signed a MoU with Kerala Government to set up an Aerospace Innovation Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Centre would support aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to dabble in the aerospace and defence sectors.

Under the MoU, an Innovation Centre will be set up in Thiruvananthapuram, which will be the nodal body for planning and executing all the activities to help the startups.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will grace a formal ceremony in his chamber on Saturday (November 17) to mark the signing of the MoU between Anand E. Stanley, President and Managing Director, Airbus India and South Asia, and Dr Saji Gopinath, CEO, Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM).

Airbus BizLab will also provide support and mentoring for startups in Kerala and conduct regular workshops and discussions with experts from the aerospace and defence sectors.

Further, the France-headquartered company, which has set up facilities in Bengaluru, Toulouse (France), Hamburg (Germany) and Madrid (Spain) to create a global network of business accelerators, is to run training programmes to acquaint participants with aerospace technologies.

Kerala Government said that the company will identify opportunities for Kerala to adapt aerospace technologies across sectors and bring all the relevant Airbus teams and startups to demonstrate technologies. After a successful demonstration, it will help the innovation centre to sign partnerships and deploy the technologies.

“It is a landmark agreement that will give a huge fillip to Kerala’s efforts to nurture innovations and startups in the aerospace and defence sectors. It will help the startups in the state to leverage the expertise of Airbus in transforming their innovative ideas into scalable businesses,” said Tom Jose, Kerala Chief Secretary

“The initiative aims to foster local talent in the aerospace domain and help promising startups to contribute towards shaping the future of flying not only in India but the world,” said Anand E. Stanley, President and Managing Director, Airbus India and South Asia.