An opportunity to create connection with multiple big names of the industry, a strong mentorship network and  a chance to encourage investors for global visibility await startups at NXP’s ‘India Tech Startup Challenge’

About 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 maintain to prosper in India.

As reported, 1,600 new tech startups were launched and 12 unicorns emerged in India in 2020.Moreover, the country’s tech startup base is witnessing a steady annual growth of 8-10 percent. Many of these startups have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to 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. Startups from the Electronics System Design and Manufacturing sector (ESDM) have also contributed similarly, 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, appreciation 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”. Nevertheless, the past few years have also shown that the development of any sector is increasingly apt dependent on the growth of startups working in it.

While any startup grows with an innovative idea and it requires the proper support of a wider ecosystem consisting of incubators and investors and strong mentorship to create meaningful impact at scale. To supportthem, 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, alertness 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 contributions to thousands of tech and industry business leaders.  

The hosting of the NXP India Tech Startup Challenge has been made potential 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).