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Indian start-ups with Bosch DNA: Nurturing 13 business ideas from lab-to-market

Healthy growth for Bosch in India

  • Responding early to new trends: Bosch mentors are working with 13 start-ups
  • Heavy investment: 144 million euros invested in Indian locations in 2016
  • Strong sales: Bosch generated 1.8 billion euros generated in India in 2016
Irina Ananyeva

Irina Ananyeva >

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Bengaluru – A high level of IT competence and an exceptional innovation culture: India’s start-up scene is on the rise. According to a recent study, however, only around ten percent of all start-ups established in the country develop into a profitable enterprise. Bosch is working to change this by establishing synergies and expanding the activities of its internal “D.N.A.” (“Discover, Nurture, Accelerate”) – start-up program in India. The provider of technology and services is offering its expertise to Indian start-ups to help them achieve sustainable development, particularly in the early stages of their business. Its partnership with the nascent companies is part of Bosch’s strategy to respond early to new trends and in this way gain access to disruptive industry developments. “By combining the creativity of start-ups with the experience of Bosch, significant value can be unlocked,” said Manohar Esarapu, the head of Bosch India’s D.N.A. corporate venture program.

By combining the creativity of start-ups with the experience of Bosch, significant value can be unlocked

Manohar Esarapu, head of Bosch India’s D.N.A. corporate venture program.

Out of 450 applications submitted in the first round, 13 teams were selected on the strength of their idea and potential for growth. The start-ups are active in a diverse range of fields including mobility, aerospace, healthcare, and agriculture. For example, one start-up provides customizable home automation solutions while another harnesses the power of virtual reality to save around 90 percent of the costs involved in life-size prototyping. In the future, Bosch India’s accelerator program will increasingly look to collaborate with start-ups who are working in areas such as the internet of things (IoT), deep learning, analytics, cloud computing, virtual reality, and blockchain technology. Over the course of 18 weeks, the start-ups receive intensive support and advice on their technology and business plans from experienced Bosch mentors.

Bosch invests further in localization

Along with partnering with local start-ups, Bosch is also strengthening its successful localization strategy in the country through investments. Over the past five years, Bosch invested a total of 660 million euros in its Indian locations, including 144 million euros in 2016. The lion’s share of this investment is going toward expanding the company’s Adugodi location in the southern city of Bangalore into a high-tech R&D center. In nearby Bidadi, Bosch’s Mobility Solutions plant recently entered the second phase of its extension. The work is expected to be completed by mid-2019 and will create space for an additional 2,500 associates. “In recent years, Bosch has maintained a high level of investment in India, and the current year will see a continuation of this strategy,” said Soumitra Bhattacharya, the president of Bosch India and managing director of Bosch Limited. The country’s political stability is a key factor here, he said. The government is placing a particular focus on topics including the introduction of a goods and services tax (GST) and smart city projects. Both of these will have a positive effect on the development of the local market next year as well, he continued.

Healthy growth in the Indian market

In 2016, the Bosch Group recorded total sales of 1.8 billion euros in India – an increase of 5.7 percent. The company’s publicly-listed Indian subsidiary Bosch Limited was responsible for the majority of this, generating sales of 1.5 billion euros. “Bosch’s business grew much faster than the domestic automotive market, both in the current quarter and over the last year as a whole,” said Bhattacharya. The Mobility Solutions business sector grew by 8.6 percent, outperforming the domestic automotive market, which only grew by 7 percent in the same period. Other Bosch divisions also developed very well: growth was particularly strong in the company’s security systems, packaging machinery, and energy and building solutions businesses.

Bosch has been active in India since 1922. Today, the company is present with all of its four business units and 15 manufacturing locations. With around 18,000 highly qualified engineers, India is home to Bosch’s largest R&D center outside of Germany. In total, Bosch currently employs nearly 32,000 associates in the country.

Tags: India, Asia, growth

About Bosch

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 421,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2022). The company generated sales of 88.2 billion euros in 2022. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. As a leading IoT provider, Bosch offers innovative solutions for smart homes, Industry 4.0, and connected mobility. Bosch is pursuing a vision of mobility that is sustainable, safe, and exciting. It uses its expertise in sensor technology, software, and services, as well as its own IoT cloud, to offer its customers connected, cross-domain solutions from a single source. The Bosch Group’s strategic objective is to facilitate connected living with products and solutions that either contain artificial intelligence (AI) or have been developed or manufactured with its help. Bosch improves quality of life worldwide with products and services that are innovative and spark enthusiasm. In short, Bosch creates technology that is “Invented for life.” The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 470 subsidiary and regional companies in over 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch’s global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. With its more than 400 locations worldwide, the Bosch Group has been carbon neutral since the first quarter of 2020. The basis for the company’s future growth is its innovative strength. At 136 locations across the globe, Bosch employs some 85,500 associates in research and development, of which nearly 44,000 are software engineers.

The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861–1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.” The special ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH guarantees the entrepreneurial freedom of the Bosch Group, making it possible for the company to plan over the long term and to undertake significant upfront investments in the safeguarding of its future. Ninety-four percent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. The remaining shares are held by Robert Bosch GmbH and by a corporation owned by the Bosch family. The majority of voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, an industrial trust. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by the trust.

Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com, www.iot.bosch.com, www.bosch-press.com, www.twitter.com/BoschPress.

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