Boeing rolls out incubator programme, partners IITs and others

New York Stock Exchange-listed manufacturer of commercial jetliners Boeing announced the launch of its Boeing University Innovation Leadership Development (BUILD) programme. The initiative offers university students, faculty and early-stage startups the opportunity to incubate ideas and access Boeing's innovation ecosystem, the company said in a statement.

Boeing said it will shortlist teams that will be mentored by in-house experts, who will refine and convert the budding entrepreneurs and students’ ideas into viable business offerings. To attract applications, Boeing will partner university incubators -- Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Madras, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, T-Hub Hyderabad and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) Bhubaneswar.

Applicants can submit ideas in the fields of aerospace, autonomous vehicles, advanced manufacturing, augmented and virtual reality, analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, materials, robotics and Internet of Things (IoT).

“With BUILD, we are creating a platform for students and entrepreneurs to not only benefit from our vast experience and partner networks, but also to develop their ideas into path-breaking innovations,” said Salil Gupte, president, Boeing India.

Boeing, through its programmes such as HorizonX India Innovation Challenge and Accelerated Aircraft Maintenance Engineers Apprenticeship, has made efforts for the skilling of workforce and to facilitate entrepreneurial initiatives. The company statement said that Boeing’s mentors and industry experts will co-ordinate with the finalists throughout the BUILD programme.

Founded in 1916, The Boeing Company manufactures and sells aircraft, rotocraft, rockets, defence, space and security systems. Boeing has invested in a joint venture to manufacture fuselages for Apache helicopters, the first Indian Air Force model of which was delivered earlier this month.

Recent initiatives by incubators:

• April 2019: Omnichannel sportswear startup Azani Sports, child skill enhancement firm Skillmatics and travel management platform Skynote raised funds from Sequoia Capital’s accelerator and incubator Surge.
• May 2019: Health-tech startup CapBuild Clinical Skills Pvt. Ltd raised an undisclosed amount of funding from health sector accelerator HealthStart India.
• February 2019: Four Indian companies were chosen by US startup incubator Y Combinator for its winter batch.