Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc., has announced the third cohort of the ASTRA (Applied Startup Technology and Research Accelerator) program to collaborate with startups and to provide support in accelerating their innovations. This cohort will focus on startups in the areas of life sciences, semiconductor and display manufacturing technologies, advanced optics and photonics, resilient supply chain, sensors, advanced materials, industry 4.0, and AI hardware. ASTRA is designed to provide a platform for the selected startups to pitch their product/solution to the Applied Material Ventures team and business leaders. The finalists will be considered for collaboration with Applied Materials and investment from Applied Ventures.
Applied Materials India will act as a consultant to the selected startups for addressing market and technology challenges and to explore potential scale-up pathways. The selected companies will also have access to the Applied infrastructure and ecosystem connect through this engagement. Applied Materials India is actively collaborating with several knowledge partners – Zinnov, C-CAMP, SFAL, academic institutes like the IITs, and consultants to engage with the startup ecosystem in India.
Commenting on the third cohort of the ASTRA program, Om Nalamasu, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Applied Materials, Inc., and President, Applied Ventures, LLC said, “We are excited to embark on a journey with innovative startups in India in our joint quest to address global inflections with materials engineering solutions for the third year in a row. For Applied Ventures, the vibrant startup ecosystem in India is an excellent opportunity to invest in and partner with innovative deep tech startups. The mature and growing Indian high technology and entrepreneurial landscape is a great place for us to identify new white space opportunities focused on disruptive innovation with new products and business models.”
“ASTRA plays a critical role in helping us connect with next-gen start-ups. With the third cohort, we look forward to continue engaging with disruptive start-ups across the Materials to Systems stack that hold the promise of bringing breakthrough innovations to market in partnership with Applied Materials,” Anand Kamannavar, Global Head, Applied Ventures, LLC and sponsor, ASTRA.
Adding to that, Srinivas Satya, Country President, and Managing Director, Applied Materials India Private Limited said, “The program’s ultimate success lies in fostering innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship to nurture a vibrant start-up ecosystem. Leveraging our technology expertise in materials engineering, commercialisation, and manufacturing to scale faster and higher, the previous two editions of ASTRA saw an incredible success where the benefits were beyond the financial returns. The third edition of the program hinges on the increased opportunities and aims to empower the forthcoming entrepreneurs by expediting their innovations and driving not just sustainable but an equitable growth.”