Maruti Suzuki collaborates with five startups under its MAIL programme

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd said on Monday it has selected five startups for proof of concept (PoC) under its Mobility and Automobile Innovation Lab (MAIL) programme to help accelerate these concepts towards real-time applications.

MAIL is an initiative by Maruti Suzuki to identify and bring together startups with innovative and cutting-edge solutions for collaborating in open innovation in mobility and automobile space.

Through an extensive exercise involving call for applications, thorough screening and pitch sessions, five startups -- Enmovil, Docketrun, Eyedentify, Xane and SenseGiz -- were selected for cohort 1. These five startups presented their solutions at the demo day organised in New Delhi.

"The Indian automobile industry is at a crucial juncture. Several disruptions are taking place in the automobile and mobility space," said Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director and CEO of Maruti Suzuki India.

"We are optimistic that partnering with these startups, we will enter into a new era of mobility and automobile solutions. Our aim is to now work along with these startups and enhance scalability of the solutions. These intelligent solutions will help enhance customer experience," he said in a statement.

Post selection into the first cohort, all the five startups underwent a three-month acceleration programme. They were mentored by various experts from both domestic as well as international startup ecosystem. Concurrently, they received guidance from domain experts at Maruti Suzuki.

The startups were given access to Maruti Suzuki's test bed and facilities to understand the current scenario and suggest solutions to fit business needs.

Maruti Suzuki said the initiative will help create value additions in the areas of logistics, Internet of Things (IoT) based safety and monitoring, and plug and play solutions.

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