- Co-hosted with the new Plug and Play Mobility platform, 300 invitees came together to celebrate the launch of JLR’s Open Innovation Hub in India
- The day included some of the country’s disruptive startups, as well as speakers and panellists from across the mobility and technology sectors
- The event was a key milestone in JLR’s Open Innovation program, which has already engaged with over 2,500 startups globally, resulting in 33 formal collaborations
Bangalore, India, 5 February 2025: JLR’s Open Innovation Hub in India has begun engagement with the country’s startups at an event in Bangalore, urging them to join its new “globally connected community in India”.
Co-hosted with the Plug and Play Mobility platform, the event saw 300 invitees across startups, industry, government, investors, academia, and more meet on 30 January 2025 at the Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel. They celebrated the launch of the Open Innovation Hub, heard from industry speakers, and met a range of innovative startups focused on technologies across mobility.
The event was a key milestone in JLR’s Open Innovation program, which has already engaged with over 2,500 startups globally, resulting in 33 formal collaborations. The day included some of India’s disruptive startups – including Oorja Energy, Swapp Design, HYD-GENRC LABs, Compredict, RabBan Control Solutions – and highlighted three in particular:
- e-TRNL Energy, which is building next-gen Lithium-ion battery systems with a novel cell architecture that allows higher efficiency, better storage, faster charging, and a longer cycle life.
- Cynlr, a visual object intelligence platform that enables industrial robotic arms to see, understand and manipulate any object in random unstructured environments.
- Swaayatt Robots, which is developing autonomous driving technology that works in dynamic traffic situations, and in both structured and unstructured environmental conditions.
Meanwhile, speakers on subjects like automotive innovation, corporate and startup collaboration, and venture capital included Ravi Arora, Senior Vice President, Group Innovation at Tata Sons; Thomas Mueller, Executive Director, Product Engineering at JLR; Sobhan Khani, Partner at Plug and Play; and Michael Smeed, Managing Director at InMotion Ventures, JLR’s Corporate Venture Capital arm. They appeared alongside panellists from a range of automotive sector businesses and innovation leaders.
Keynote speaker, JLR’s Thomas Mueller, said: “With a wealth of talent and skills in deep-tech solutions, India is a breeding ground for disruptive ideas in sustainability, electrification and connected technologies. That is why our Open Innovation program is here, and I was hugely inspired by the ideas and engagement in the room.”
Lalitha Indrakanti, CEO at JLR Technology & Business Services India (TBSI), who led the event and a panel discussion, added: “We want to tap into India’s deep ecosystem for new mobility and sustainability solutions that help us deliver our next generation vehicles. This event was the perfect way to announce our intentions and meet a host of Indian startups to begin collaboration.
“Alongside Plug and Play, we are building a globally connected community in India, and we intend the relationships from this event to continue in the coming years. I am excited to see what we’ll create together in the future.”
Sobhan Khani, Partner at Plug and Play, said: “India’s dynamic startup ecosystem is a powerhouse of innovation, and this collaboration between Plug and Play and JLR’s Open Innovation Hub marks an exciting step forward. By connecting disruptive startups with global mobility leaders, we aim to accelerate groundbreaking solutions that will shape the future of mobility and sustainability.”
Building on the success of the JLR’s existing innovation hubs in the UK, US, Israel, and Brazil, the India Hub is focused on deep tech including artificial intelligence (AI), big data and analytics, internet of things (IoT), ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) and sensors and devices.
