Daimler India announces global competition for early-stage start-ups

Open from Dec 21 to Jan 29; initiative organised in association with Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to GOI and Invest India

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler AG, has launched a global competition, 'Startup Sparks', for early-stage start-ups to pitch their ideas in the fields of electric vehicles and alternate mobility, connectivity & servitisation, future mobility, and customised applications & industrial products.

THE FARM is an incubator platform to drive innovation that offers early-stage entrepreneurs and inventors the chance to turn ideas into reality. "Our vision is to develop and evolve mobility solutions to embrace a better life for people and the planet,” said Satyakam Arya, CEO & Managing Director DICV.

The competition, which will be held entirely online in its first edition, will remain open from December 21, 2020 to January 29, 2021. 

The competition is open to early-stage start-ups, SMEs and entrepreneurs.

Shortlisted start-ups will participate in the preincubation module followed by a nine-month incubation programme, ‘THE FARM’. With mentorship, infrastructure and funding support from DICV, academia and domain experts, participants can mature their ideas to the ‘proof of concept’ stage.

This initiative is organised in association with the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and Invest India. It aims to bring industry, institutes and the start-up ecosystem closer to strengthen knowledge capital.