The shortlisted companies will be assessed for mentorship and possible collaboration with Applied Materials

 Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, Inc., along with Applied Materials India Private Limited, recently conducted the third edition of its start-up engagement program, ASTRA. This year, seven start-ups based in India and Singapore pitched their offerings and business plans to Applied Materials executives and industry leaders during a hybrid event held recently in Bengaluru and through an online platform. The third cohort of ASTRA featured start-ups in areas including Industry 4.0, chip design, life sciences, semiconductor and display manufacturing technologies, advanced optics & photonics, resilient supply chain, sensors, advanced materials, and AI hardware.

The selected start-ups of ASTRA’s third cohort are: Aira Matrix, Anailytica, Attonics Systems, Crosscope, Morphing Machines, Nanolumi and Six Sense.

The start-ups will now be assessed for mentorship and possible collaboration opportunities with Applied Materials, as well as investment opportunities from Applied Ventures. They will also have access to Applied’s product development expertise, best known methods for maximizing market opportunities, infrastructure and ecosystem connections.

Commenting on the occasion, Om Nalamasu, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Applied Materials, Inc., and President, Applied Ventures, LLC, said, “We are excited to be embarking on a journey with the start-ups and explore materials engineering solutions that can help accelerate global technology inflections. The dynamic start-up proposals for the third cohort of ASTRA demonstrated novel solutions to address white space opportunities with innovative products and business models. Applied Ventures now has a unique opportunity to collaborate with these exceptional start-ups.”

Anand Kamannavar, Global Head, Applied Ventures, LLC, and sponsor of ASTRA, said, “ASTRA plays a key role in enabling us to connect with next-generation start-ups. We are excited to collaborate with the selected start-ups from across the Materials to SystemsTM stack who have the potential to bring game-changing innovations to market.”