StartupTN launches Automotive, EV, Smart Mobility Forum

CHENNAI: In an effort to make Tamil Nadu the preferred global startup destination, StartupTN launched the Automotive, Electric Vehicle and Smart Mobility Forum, on Tuesday.

Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission, branded as StartupTN, functions under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Department as the State nodal agency for startup and innovation. The strategic forum, first in a series of such for a that are in the pipeline, was launched by V Vishnu, Managing Director and CEO of Guidance Tamil Nadu, in the presence of startup ecosystem stakeholders.

Elaborating on the sectoral forum initiative of StartupTN and the curated high-impact activities in the pipeline to benefit startups, aspirants, and other stakeholders, Sivarajah Ramanathan, Mission Director and CEO of StartupTN, said the startup ecosystem required niche platforms for every sector to share knowledge and to mutually offer technical and business mentoring and support.

To create engagement and connect the relevant domain experts under one umbrella, stakeholders from different institutional structures were on-boarded on the forum. The "Automotive, Electric Vehicle and Smart Mobility Forum" is the first such strategic fora to bring together sectoral startups, innovators, corporates, experts, industry bodies, aspirants, incubators, mentors, investors, government departments and other stakeholders for focused collaborations to make Tamil Nadu a leader in the sectors, Sivarajah added.

The different fora would have focused sessions, collaborations and networking by involving the different stakeholders of the sectors, he said, adding that StartupTN would facilitate them, extend all possible avenues to support them and also keep track of their progress. On this occasion, StartupTN also inked Memorandums of Understanding with Bosch and Mahindra and Mahindra to enable corporate-startup connects for mentoring, product validation, testing, startup, and corporate collaborations. A panel discussion was also held on ‘Fostering Stakeholders Engagement in the Startup Ecosystem’, by experts from the industry.