Airbus Industries Sets up its Third Start-Up Accelerator in Bengaluru

The innovations arm of French aircraft maker Airbus, BizLab, and another France-based incubator Numa are getting together in Bengaluru with a plan to set up a start-up accelerator for Indian start-ups. 

This is the second stop after Hamburg, Germany, for Bizlab, which was originally set up in Toulouse in France. The investments in BizLab are part of a $2-billion annual spend by the aircraft maker into research and development. 

It runs hybrid accelerator programmes for co-development of ideas from its own employees, "intrapreneurs," external start-ups, and advancements from their partners and customers. BizLabs has a stated target to bring ideas that can create value for the aircraft maker quicker into that market. 

"In India, we are looking forward to a wide range of start-ups not necessarily in the avionics and aerospace sector so that we can explore interlinking opportunities," said Bruno Gutierres, head of Airbus BizLabs. Airbus has an engineering centre in Bengaluru where 350 engineers work. The accelerator would serve to grow ideas of these "intrapreneurs." 

Numa Paris, which had begun its India operations in July this year, has a 20,000 sq. ft facility which will be shared with start-ups that BizLabs will select from scores of start-ups applying for the opportunity. Start-ups will be mentored by dedicated coaches and have access to veteran entrepreneurs in their respective fields. While the opportunities of acquisition by Airbus look slim, Gutierres says chances of partnership and networking with the aircraftmaker are bright. 

Numa Paris, which had begun its India operations in July this year, has a 20,000 sq. ft facility which will be shared with start-ups that BizLabs will select from scores of start-ups applying for the opportunity. Start-ups will be mentored by dedicated coaches and have access to veteran entrepreneurs in their respective fields. While the opportunities of acquisition by Airbus look slim, Gutierres says chances of partnership and networking with the aircraftmaker are bright. 

Numa will offer an entire floor of workspace to BizLab alongside access to Numa's ecosystem of mentors, other start-ups, speakers and conferences. Numa, on the other hand, will also receive mentorship and guidance from BizLab in its area of expertise. 

Numa, by itself, has selected 11 start-ups for its own incubation offering. The selection of start-ups is sector-agnostic "It could be anything from college admin portal to mach-making websites," says Naresh Narasimhan, CEO of Numa Bengaluru. 

Agencies