Bengaluru : Toshiba Software India Private Limited (hereinafter “TSIP”), a Toshiba Group company specializing in the innovative software solutions, in collaboration with Beyond Next Ventures India Private Limited (BNVI), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japanese venture capital firm Beyond Next Ventures Inc., today launched Ideathon – a 12-week innovation programme to spur the entrepreneurial skill development for TSIP employees and engineer innovative solutions that can solve business and social problems of India.

Commenting on the launch of Ideathon, Mr Ramdas Baliga, Managing Director, Toshiba Software India Pvt. Ltd. said, “The Indian startup economy is witnessing an unprecedented surge in Venture Capital investment and tech entrepreneurship. TSIP has the ability to stimulate innovation with our advanced technologies like AI, machine learning, IoT, Cloud solutions, Data Science etc. and catalyse the vision of Startup India and Make-in-India. With the launch of Ideathon, we encourage TSIP employees to use our technologies and infrastructure to conceive ideas that will build sustainable, inclusive and innovative solutions for business and social problems in India. Functioning as Toshiba Group’s innovation hub in India, TSIP aims to empower digital agility across and beyond Toshiba Group and endeavours to bring together the Japanese expertise and the Indian entrepreneurial spirit to turn on the promise of a new day.”

Mr. Tsuyoshi Ito, CEO, of Beyond Next Ventures Inc. stated, “We are very happy to partner with Toshiba Software and are confident that this will be a new benchmark in increasing India-Japan collaboration keeping in mind the immense potential of ideas generated by Indian talents and complemented by the global scale merit that Japan brings.”

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Mayur Shah, Head – Business Development, Beyond Next Ventures India Pvt. Ltd. commented, “Beyond Next Ventures believes in the potential of Japanese science and technology, and Indian entrepreneurial skills. Our mission in India is to contribute to India’s next phase of high growth by partnering with excellent entrepreneurs who are committed to solve social and economic problems. With Ideathon, we are partnering Toshiba Software to not only build an environment that stimulates maximum productivity and growth for entrepreneurs but also create disruptive and innovative solutions to help build a better future and society.”

In line with the government’s “Make in India for the World” vision and furthering India-Japan economic cooperation, Ideathon is the right step in promoting entrepreneurial zeal among young Indians to inspire innovative ideas, and this model can become a benchmark for established Japanese companies in India to advance the next phase of growth in the Indian market.

Under the programme, any number of teams from TSIP can enroll to participate in the Ideathon. After a rigorous process of selection, 5 shortlisted teams will undergo a rigorous workshop with BNV to mentor them and help fine-tune & brush-up their ideas to prepare them for the final pitch. The shortlisted teams will then make the final pitch to the core committee in August 2022, who will select three winners and felicitate them with reward money.

Basis the impact potential and commercial viability, the winning idea will also be considered  for seed capital and further refinement of the idea for deployment along with experienced Business Development teams both in India and Japan who will bring decades of experience in working with Japanese enterprises and other significant players in the ecosystem, bringing much required complementary strengths.