R2 Data Labs, which is a innovation lab by British luxury automobile maker ‘Rolls-Royce’, will launch a startup accelerator in Bengaluru in April this year to develop a collaborative ecosystem of digital partners in India, the company announced in Bangalore on Wednesday.
With the startup accelerator, Rolls-Royce wants to use data to spark innovation in all of its businesses and collaborate more effectively with partners and customers.
Rolls-Royce, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of German group BMW, will provide mentoring and technical support to start-ups specialising in the areas of Advanced Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Quantum Computing, Autonomous and Sensing.
Launched in December 2017 by the company, R2 Data Labs acts as a ‘data innovation guild’ across Rolls-Royce, connecting people from all over the business to collect, champion and inspire data and AI innovation.
Rolls-Royce has specifically chosen Bangalore to launch this program in India due to the growing number of technology companies there.
According to recent reports, Bangalore is now ranked as the city with highest growth index for start-up hubs, followed by London and Tel Aviv. The city is one among the nine ‘International Start-up Hubs’ outside of the United States and the start-up capital of India.
“Unlocking hidden value in data requires new technology but also new ways of thinking. Working with IoT start-ups helps us to accelerate digital transformation, deliver further value to customers, improve existing services and create new areas of growth. At the same time, we also get to help those innovators to succeed, and share in their pace, inventiveness and energy,” said Gorski.
Kishore Jayaraman, president, Rolls-Royce – India and South Asia, said, “Digital skills help accelerate India’s drive to develop its economy. The country’s vibrant digital ecosystem, supported by an innovative start-up environment, will facilitate the development of capabilities in these areas in the hope of creating immense opportunities across the lives of individuals and affect diverse industries including financial services, retail, media, travel, hospitality and healthcare. We recognise that some of the best digital capabilities exist outside of our business. For Rolls-Royce to continue to pioneer the power that matters as a leading industrial technology company and be a strong industrial partner, we must champion collaboration. As a leader in applied industrial AI and analytics applications, R2 Data Labs is tasked to help Rolls-Royce become the ‘go-to’ industrial company.”
In 2016, Rolls-Royce invested 1.3 billion pound (Rs 12,130 crore) in R&D. It also supports a global network of 31 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.
Besides India, R2 Data Labs has data innovation capability hubs in the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Singapore and New Zealand.
