NXP India launching search for future Technology Wizards on its ‘SiliconSeeds’ platform through an exclusive ‘NXP India Tech Startup Challenge’

A chance to connect and interact with several big names of the industry, a robust mentorship network and an opportunity to woo investors for global visibility await startups at NXP’s ‘India Tech Startup Challenge’

With close to 12,500 tech startups setting up base in the country, India is home to a vibrant startup ecosystem. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns, the tech startup ecosystem continues to flourish in India. According to a report, 1,600 new tech startups were launched and 12 unicorns emerged in India in 2020. In fact, the country’s tech startup base is witnessing a steady year-on-year growth of 8-10 percent.

Many of these startups have repeatedly proven their ability to fundamentally change the way we live and work. In the past year, these startups demonstrated their ability to solve seemingly unsolvable problems, be it enabling remote working overnight, or providing access to healthcare, or ensuring that there is no disruption in education in the new world order due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Significant contributions have also been made by startups from the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing sector (ESDM), which is one of the fastest growing sectors of the country. By 2025, the electronics market in India is expected to grow up to $400 billion, thanks to a growing middle class, rise in disposable income, and a reduction in electronics prices. In fact, the government has prioritized the growth of the ESDM sector as key to moving towards an “AtmaNirbhar Bharat”.

However, the past few years have also shown that the growth of any sector is increasingly becoming dependent on the growth of startups working in it. While the journey of every startup begins with an innovative idea, it needs the nurturing support of a wider ecosystem consisting of incubators and investors and robust mentorship to create meaningful impact at scale.

To support innovative tech startups in their growth journey, NXP India, one of the biggest R&D centres for NXP Semiconductors, a world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, is launching “NXP India Tech Startup Challenge” 2021, in collaboration with ecosystem partners .

“The last 10 years in electronics have been all about connecting the world and providing On Demand experiences. Today you can easily order transportation, food or other goods in the “here and now” without moving. The next decade will be all about creating a “world that anticipates & automates” with a lot of smart connected systems around us. All of that will lead into making the planet a better world to live in and fun to innovate in. In that context, I am very much looking forward to the great ideas that the NXP India Tech Startup Challenge will bring to us, and as a father of three teenagers I am also keen to learn how their world might look like in future” said Lars Reger, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, NXP Semiconductors.

Expressing his excitement at the launch, Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Vice President and India Country Manager, NXP Semiconductors said, “ NXP India is committed to promote innovation in the technology space and is geared to support the Indian ecosystem to become the leading technology disruptor of the future for the world. In India we have an indigenous, untapped talent pool and the best example of this is the sheer number of startups emerging every day. Our initiative is one step in the direction to provide these technology focused startups with a boosting platform and help them in PM Modi’s vision on Making India an Atmanirbhar Bharat “. For startups, agility is key, and through NXP India’s ‘SiliconSeeds’ platform and leading tech event like the NXP India Tech Startup Challenge, they get a chance to present their ideas and offerings to thousands of tech and industry business leaders.

You can start registering, as the last date for accepting applications is March 18.

The hosting of the NXP India Tech Startup Challenge has been made possible with the help of NXP India’s partners, which include its Government Partner: Invest India and Startup India, Global Partner: Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), and its incubation partners : Electropreneur Park and the Semiconductor Fabless Acceleration Lab (SFAL).

What to expect

The NXP India Tech Startup Challenge aims to promote entities by offering them opportunities to connect and collaborate with industry leaders and other ecosystem stakeholders that can boost their growth prospects. India’s ecosystem has the potential to be a global leader in cultivating the next generation of startups where sustainable development and technology with social purpose (in line with United Nations 17 SDGs) are integral to their commercial business plan and operations.

Apart from nurturing and promoting such startups, the challenge will also push their global visibility and network scalability, among other benefits once they are shortlisted in successive rounds of evaluation.

The Top 10 selected startups will receive:

• Industry visibility for Top 10 selected Start-ups to share their business value proposition to NXP and Industry partners along with networking opportunities.

• The top 10 tech startups in the embedded system and product design space will be invited as entrants for the equity-free Electropreneur Park ESDM Incubator for upto three months. Here, startups will receive free of charge access to state of the art ESDM Lab test equipment to convert their idea to a prototype, mentorship sessions for business plan refinement, technical mentorship and connect to ESDM suppliers, and receive reimbursement for their prototyping expenses upto Rs 50,000.

• The top 10 tech startups in the semiconductor and IP design space will be invited as entrants in the SFAL - Semiconductor Fabless Acceleration Lab, a prominent semiconductor and IP design incubator. Benefits in the equity-free cohort period that can last upto four months include: access to in-kind partner (IKP) assets, which can be worth upwards of Rs 10 lakh per startup; FPGA Innovation Lab at SFAL; tools from in-kind partners; access to webinars by SFAL and IKP partners; guidance on business and investments, etc.

The Top 3 selected startups will receive:

• A mentorship opportunity with a mentor who is part of NXP India’s panel of Technical Leadership Experts. Each tech startup will be part of three interactive sessions each month for three months.

• Selected Top 3 Tech Startups will be provided with Total Prize Money of upto INR 6 Lacs distributed among winners (including all applicable & withholding taxes).

• An opportunity to participate as Finalists in the Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), eligibility for XTC’s bootcamp event and global winners competition in late spring 2021. The bootcamp is constituent of multiple hours of tutorials and small group interactions with global level executives of major technology, business and venture capital industry leaders. For the global competition, finalists will be publicized by XTC and have their company evaluated by an elite panel of investors for global exposure.

Who can apply:

According to the rules, a startup must be incorporated in India as a private limited company with 51 percent of the entity being owned by Indian citizens. The participating startups must also have at least one company founder or executive who is a legal resident of India and is at least 18 years of age at the time of applying for the competition.

Technology startups focusing on IP/processors development, semiconductor fabless ASIC creators, embedded product developers and design houses, and Tier-2 and Tier-1 technology product companies are the need of the hour for the Indian ecosystem and are the core focus of this initiative.

Startups developing products or services in the following focus areas are encouraged to apply:

Industry: Automotive, industrial, communication Infrastructure, Mobile, Smart City, and Smart Home products

Cloud infrastructure focus areas: Machine learning, authentication, data analytics, services etc.

Edge focus areas: Home gateway, auto gateway, Smart City, industrial controller, Smart Home products, Smart Health solutions, Smart Retail products, wearables, Smart Buildings, voice assistant, robotics, media streaming etc.

Technology focus areas: Artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Things, 5G, edge computing, functional safety, human machine interface, IoT security, motor control, ultra-wideband, voice, Wi-Fi-6, etc.

To take your startup to new heights, click here to register for the NXP India Tech Startup Challenge. Applications close on March 18, 2021.