MINI India has launched URBAN-X, which aims to support Indian urban tech startups under the global MINI Impact Programme. The programme supports early-stage startups working to make life in cities more sustainable, liveable, and resilient, and it extends to India along with seven other countries, including Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Portugal, France, Spain and Germany.
MINI India, along with Utopia, the urban innovation group for urbantech entrepreneurs in emerging cities, will identify the right startups in India with the best ideas to tackle urban challenges in India.
A combination of experts on all aspects of the early-stage venture, including leading industry mentors who deeply understand regulated industries, urban design, and planning with an extensive knowledge base and a dense network of VCs and partners, will evaluate applications from startups.
One winning team from India will participate in the four-week programme by URBAN-X that provides a tailored journey to get to ‘product-market fit’ through an intensive and immersive programme, both virtually and for a week on campus at the URBAN-X headquarters in Newlab, Brooklyn, New York.
Entrepreneurs from participating countries will receive support tailored to the stage and needs of their startup. For idea-stage startups, the experts will focus on customer discovery, business roadmap, and pitching the solutions. Product and pitch will be reviewed for seed stage companies, a strategy to enter the market framed, and the supply chain assessed.
Vikram Pawah, President, BMW Group India, noted that MINI is and has always been an urban brand. Born out of a crisis as a response to the first gasoline crisis in the late 1950's, its small footprint, creative use of space, and innovative design and engineering laid the foundations of an iconic brand.
URBAN-X by MINI follows the same creative spirit for startups reimagining city life and has created a leading programme for urban tech entrepreneurs, providing them with the network and necessary resources to have an unparallel advantage in scaling up their solutions, he added.
A press release from MINI India noted that in the seven years since its inception, URBAN-X has supported over 100 startups in developing novel, scalable solutions. The URBAN-X platform was expanded last year with the MINI Impact Programme, leveraging the carmaker's global distribution network to maximise impact amid growing climate challenges in cities around the world.
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