Alstom, IIM Bangalore’s NSRCEL launches second edition of Sustainability Incubation Programme

French locomotive manufacturing company Alstom has announced the second edition of the Sustainability Incubation Programme in collaboration with IIM Bangalore-based startup incubator NSRCEL. 

The programme is designed to assist early-stage sustainable startups in their revenue stages and focuses on innovations in areas such as green manufacturing, mobility infrastructure, energy and renewable energy, climate technology, alternative fuels, and vehicle technology.  

Under the second edition of the programme Alstom is looking to incubate 22 startups, while 20 startups were supported under the first cohort. 

In addition to IIM Bangalore, Alstom also received support from Ah Ventures, Lenskart cofounder Piyush Bansal, IIMA Ventures, Social Alpha and Shell Ventures. 

Speaking on the second edition of the programme, Anand Sri Ganesh, CEO of NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore, said, “Under this programme, we are planning to back startups which are at early stage cleantech startups belonging to different sectors like mobility, alternative fuel solutions, green supply chain, etc.” 

He added that the programme is designed to foster startups, which are either working on innovation or has an opportunity in some or the other cleantech area. “Startups from across the country applied for the programme, which is almost 50 percent down from typical large metros. I think that is promising in terms of innovation,” Ganesh added. 

Alstom aims to foster startups across four stages of maturity. Under the last edition, Alstom offered Rs 1.5 crore grant to 10 startups that developed solutions in the areas of clean energy, shared mobility and multi-modal solutions.  

The financial details of the latest edition are undisclosed. 

In addition to funding, the startups will also receive mentorship from industry experts, Alstom said. 

Alstom Asia Pacific’s Vice President- Communications & CSR, Sapna Bhawnani said, “The next step of the cohort will focus on individual mentorship of each startup and remain connected to them throughout their growth journey.” 

Recently, tech giant Google also launched its accelerator programme in India to back startups working in AI segment. Under this programme, Google will offer three months of equity-free assistance to startups addressing diverse industry challenges using AI.