ICEA launches technology access platform for manufacturers, partners VC firm Caret Capital

The India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) on Tuesday launched the ‘Venture Access Labs’ in partnership with Venture Capital (VC) fund Caret Capital, to facilitate technology access between startups and India’s electronics and manufacturing companies.

The association, in a joint statement, said that the platform would significantly provide the Indian manufacturing industry a competitive edge and connect manufacturers with startups innovating in the domains of advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), energy efficiency, materials science, and more.

It will also cover several functions, including procurement, planning, manufacturing, supply chain, finance, HR, legal and ESG (environmental, social, and governance).

‘The research and development (R&D) spending of Indian companies has been really low, even lower than the average R&D spend of other countries. If Indian companies aspire to create world-leading products, they need to significantly invest. But the financial gap is too huge for them to cover on their own, and that is where we are trying to help with our latest initiative,’ Salil Kapoor, co-founder and chief mentor of Venture Access Labs (VAL), told ETTelecom.

According to him, manufacturers in India can partner with domestic and international innovators to pool investment into technologies, which is expected to ease the financial strain on startups and MSMEs, and drive the overall R&D spending in the ecosystem.

ICEA will create an “innovation directory” containing information about startups, technology innovators, disruptors, and incubators, along with their domain and use case expertise, and the real-life problems they are attempting to solve. The platform will enable one-to-one connection.

VAL expects to facilitate up to three cohorts of startups in various domains every year.

The collaboration with the VC fund, which supports early-stage startups, will ensure India’s manufacturing industry has access to a vetted pipeline of global startups and emerging technologies that are strategically aligned with the specific business needs of industry, ICEA said.

‘By opening the door to international technological advancements and building an innovation pipeline, we aim to accelerate India’s electronics manufacturing capabilities and global competitiveness so as to capture a larger global market share,’ said Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman, ICEA.

‘The Venture Access Labs platform stands as a strategic catalyst in this transformation, empowering Indian industry to sharpen its global edge through innovation. VAL offers a unique platform for enterprises to discover, pilot, and scale breakthrough technologies that can redefine the future of manufacturing in India,’ said Prajakt Raut, co-founder and managing partner at Caret Capital.