NEW DELHI — Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the country’s top-selling defense group, has begun searching for deep-tech startups in India to jointly create cutting-edge innovative technologies and solutions in fields such as big data, signal and image processing, green energy and more, with the aim to expand globally.
IAI launched a new program in the South Asian nation called the NeuSPHERE Innovation Acceleration Program in late November. Its application window for startups is open for a limited time through Feb. 6.
This is “about reaching to technological deep-tech innovative startups and collaborating with this community in order to take their ideas and … be able to take those very immature ideas in world technologies and translate [them] into products,” Avital Schrift, vice president of Core Technologies at IAI, told Nikkei Asia in New Delhi during a recent interview.
In addition to big data, image processing and green energy, IAI will also focus on advanced navigation systems, artificial intelligence and autonomy, XR (extended reality)-maintenance and training, advanced production, quantum, edge computing, human-machine interfaces and wearable technology.
The company has been working with several Indian government entities and private companies across various spheres, such as Hindustan Aeronautics and Larsen & Toubro. In September, it inked a memorandum of understanding with India’s state-run defense firm Bharat Electronics for cooperation in addressing the South Asian country’s armed forces’ requirements in the domain of short-range air defense systems.
“We are working with all the giants [in India] and … [also] trying to create many joint ventures … We believe in cooperation with the Indian companies,” Schrift said in the interview.
IAI says the NeuSPHERE program will provide the participating Indian startups access to advanced resources and technologies, including global mentorship and guidance, networking and funding to accelerate their market-ready solutions.
Israel Aerospace Industries launches India innovation acceleration program in New Delhi in late November (photo by IAI)“In Israel, we have our own innovation center running for the last four years,” Schrift said, adding that when they decided to go global they concentrated on only two giants — the U.S. and India. In the U.S., the Israeli company launched an innovation program called IAI CATALYST earlier this year.
“We appreciate very much Indian culture, capabilities and technological abilities,” said Schrift, who has been working with the Indians for the past 40 years.
Reuven Azar, Israeli ambassador to New Delhi, told Nikkei that IAI’s NeuSPHERE is a “very important [program] because innovation is key in creating the value chain in the economy.”
“It starts from innovation, and then it trickles down,” he added. Separately, IAI opened its latest facility in India’s southern city of Hyderabad on Thursday, specializing in maintaining and repairing radar modules and sub-systems, such as power systems, cooling systems, information technology integration, radar testing and calibration.
This strategic hub, IAI said in a statement, “marks an additional significant milestone in IAI’s commitment to reinforcing India’s defense infrastructure under its Make in India initiative” aimed at transforming the South Asian nation into a manufacturing hub.
Established in 1953, IAI is the largest technology employer in Israel with $5 billion in revenue and a workforce of 15,000. It is one of the 10 companies in the world that develop and manufacture aircraft and is among the 11 global firms with satellite capabilities.
source : asia.nikkei