Boeing and T-Hub have announced the last lap of the Boeing HorizonX India Innovation Challenge. Launched in November 2017, the challenge aims to discover and accelerate potentially transformative aerospace innovation from India. As many as 13 start-ups out of 80 shortlisted entries and six teams from Boeing’s research and technology center, have made it to the final round of the innovation challenge.
The selected start-ups and internal teams will now work on perfecting their ideas and concepts to develop disruptive solutions and tackle complex challenges in multiple areas of aerospace, including autonomous and unmanned systems, advanced manufacturing, industrial IOT and automation, analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). The winners will be declared after the teams successfully complete their accelerator programme, a Boeing press release said on 8 March.
As part of a showcase session organised for the finalists, global start-ups associated with Boeing’s HorizonX and Indian start-ups presented their innovations to an audience that comprised of potential customers and investors.
“Boeing is excited about India’s potential for step-change innovation which could define the future of aerospace across the globe,” said Pratyush Kumar, president, Boeing India. “We are building the future of aerospace, incubated and started right here in India by partnering with innovative companies.”
Pradeep Fernandes, Disruptive Horizons director with Boeing HorizonX, said: “Innovation and technology are at the heart of what Boeing does. It is what differentiates us, as Boeing connects, protects, explores and inspires the world through aerospace innovation.”
Launched in April 2017, Boeing HorizonX functions as a pathfinder organisation for Boeing. The team makes targeted investments in new ventures and start-ups; seeks unique business opportunities for the company’s aerospace technology; and assesses disruptive innovations and business strategies.