DP World's new India partnership

Invest India, Kerala Start-Up Mission and Startup Reseau, have teamed up with DP World to harness digital technologies like block chain, artificial intelligence, robotics, simulators and Internet of Things, IoT, to identify logistics-focused technology start-ups in India.

The result of their joint efforts, Log-X, a national technology accelerator platform for logistics, has been launched this weekend. Its aim is to encourage innovation and technology adoption in the Indian logistics sector.

Invest India is the national investment promotion and facilitation agency of the Indian federal government. Kerala Start-Up Mission is the nodal agency of the state government, whose mission is to spread the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in Kerala. Startup Réseau is the accelerator partner of this Kerala agency.

The Log-X accelerator programme is the result of the firm belief in the federal and state governments that DP World is an ideal partner for India at a time when it is seeking higher technology adoption in the logistics sector.

"This is a unique partnership and the first in the logistics sector. We are very pleased to be partnering with DP World on this unique initiative to drive innovation in the sector," said Deepak Bagla, CEO and Managing Director of Invest India marking the launch. "We look forward to working with the final start-ups who are chosen by the Log-X accelerator platform."

Startup India, is an initiative of Invest India to catalyse and support the startup ecosystem in this country.

DP World has already created, in January, in partnership with the Indian sovereign wealth fund, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, NIIF, an investment platform to invest up to $3 billion in ports, terminals, transportation and logistics businesses in India. Since then, this is DP World’s second major initiative in India.

Rizwan Soomar, CEO and Managing Director DP World for the Indian sub-continent, said, "DP World wants to encourage the creation of a start-up eco-system for logistics and supply-chain focused innovators with an aim to reduce the costs of logistics in India and make India’s exports more competitive."

He added, "The Log-X accelerator programme is a unique partnership to encourage innovation across the value chain in the logistics sector in India. Stronger technology adoption in the logistics sector will also improve transparency, reliability and predictability in the supply chains across the country. This will be transformative for India."

The Log-X programme is aimed at entrepreneurs in the logistics and other similar sectors. Its goal is to catalyze India’s start-up community to develop smart trade solutions by leveraging opportunities offered by digital technology through the expertise of DP World.

Log-X plans to take on board up to ten start-ups, selected through the Startup India portal, all of which will be mentored by a leadership team from DP World.

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