Gurugram: JSW MG Motor India has announced eight winners of the sixth edition of its MG Developer Program (MGDP), selecting startups working on artificial intelligence, electric vehicle technology, industrial intelligence and sustainable mobility. The programme attracted more than 130 applications from across India, with the selected companies now set to explore pilot projects and real-world applications in collaboration with the automaker and its industry partners.
The winning startups are Nayan Technologies, Technod8.AI, LiveNSense, LW3, Smaartbrand by Acquink Solutions, Fitsol, Cautio and Meta Materials Circular Market.
Organised under the theme “Innovation in Automotive”, MGDP Season 6.0 focused on identifying technologies capable of addressing challenges across mobility, automotive manufacturing, customer experience, sustainability and industrial operations.
The initiative offers participating startups an opportunity to move beyond product demonstrations and test their solutions against practical industry requirements.
Eight Startups Selected From More Than 130 Applications
The sixth edition attracted considerable interest from India’s technology and startup ecosystem, receiving more than 130 entries.
Following an initial evaluation, more than 40 startups were shortlisted for the presentation rounds. Of these, 18 advanced to the final jury round, from which eight winners were selected.
The winning companies represent a diverse range of automotive applications, from monitoring road conditions through artificial intelligence to improving battery supply chain transparency and reducing industrial carbon emissions.
According to JSW MG Motor India, the selected startups will work with the company and its ecosystem partners over the coming months to explore pilot deployments and potential real-world applications.
The emphasis on practical implementation is significant in an industry where technological innovation must ultimately demonstrate measurable benefits in efficiency, safety, sustainability or customer experience.
Meet the Eight Winners of MG Developer Program Season 6.0
The winning startups and their respective areas of innovation are:
- Nayan Technologies: An AI-powered, vision-based road intelligence platform designed to generate insights using visual data.
- Technod8.AI: A full-stack agentic physical AI startup developing an agentic AI Brain.
- LiveNSense: An industrial artificial intelligence platform focused on applications in heavy industry.
- LW3: An AI- and blockchain-powered compliance platform for electric vehicle battery supply chains.
- Smaartbrand by Acquink Solutions: A native AI Decision Intelligence platform focused on customer voice.
- Fitsol: An AI-driven supply chain decarbonization platform.
- Cautio: Described by the company as India’s first unified mobility intelligence platform.
- Meta Materials Circular Market: A digital infrastructure platform supporting India’s automotive circular economy.
Together, the selected startups highlight the increasingly broad role of software, data intelligence and sustainability technologies in the automotive sector.
While electric vehicles and autonomous technologies often dominate discussions about the future of mobility, innovations in supply chains, industrial processes and customer intelligence are also becoming important parts of the industry’s transformation.
JSW MG Motor India Emphasises Collaboration Between AI, Data and Mobility
Anurag Mehrotra, Managing Director, JSW MG Motor India, highlighted the growing convergence of technologies shaping the automotive industry.
“We are entering an era where the boundaries between mobility, data, and artificial intelligence are rapidly converging. The next wave of transformation in the automotive industry will be driven by innovators who can connect these ecosystems and create solutions with real-world impact. Through the MG Developer Program, we are committed to providing startups with a platform to collaborate, experiment, and scale breakthrough ideas. The winning startups of Season 6.0 represent some of the most promising innovations across automotive technology, sustainability, industrial intelligence, and mobility services. We look forward to partnering with them to explore pilot deployments and unlock new possibilities for the future of mobility.”
The statement reflects the company’s approach to engaging external innovators rather than relying exclusively on conventional in-house automotive research and development.
For emerging technology companies, access to an established automotive manufacturer can provide opportunities to evaluate solutions under practical operating conditions, although commercial adoption will depend on the outcomes of subsequent development and testing.
Programme Brings Together Government, Technology and Industry Partners
JSW MG Motor India introduced MG Developer Program and Grant 6.0 in collaboration with a network of government bodies, technology companies, industry organisations and sustainability-focused institutions.
The participating partners include DPIIT, Startup India, JSW, NCPI BHIM, Jio, Gulf Oil India, TiE Delhi NCR, iCreate, Allianz Partners India, The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), BSES Rajdhani Power Limited, LICO Materials and Pulse Energy.
The involvement of organisations spanning technology, energy, industrial development and business incubation reflects the programme’s wider focus on the automotive ecosystem.
Beyond vehicle engineering, the current edition addresses challenges involving energy management, battery supply chains, industrial intelligence and environmental sustainability.
Such collaborations can help connect early-stage technology developers with established businesses that have the infrastructure, industry experience and operational requirements necessary to evaluate new solutions.
MG Developer Program Has Received Over 1,680 Startup Entries Since 2019
Launched in 2019, the MG Developer Program has developed into a recurring startup engagement initiative for JSW MG Motor India.
Across its editions, the programme has attracted more than 1,680 startup entries covering connected mobility, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, sustainability and next-generation automotive technologies.
The initiative aims to connect entrepreneurs and technology developers with industry expertise and practical business challenges, allowing participating startups to validate, refine and potentially pilot their products.
Its scope has evolved alongside changes in the automotive sector, particularly the growing importance of connected technologies, electrification, software-based systems and environmental compliance.
The sixth edition further expands that focus by bringing industrial AI, battery traceability, supply chain decarbonization and circular economy infrastructure into the discussion.
From Startup Innovation to Practical Automotive Applications
With the eight winners now selected, the next phase of MG Developer Program Season 6.0 will focus on exploring potential pilot projects between the startups, JSW MG Motor India and its partners.
The company has not announced specific deployment timelines or commercial implementation agreements for the winning technologies.
For the participating startups, the opportunity lies in demonstrating that their solutions can address genuine industry challenges beyond controlled development environments.
For JSW MG Motor India, the programme provides access to emerging technologies that could potentially improve different aspects of automotive manufacturing, mobility services, customer engagement and sustainability.
The broader significance of MG Developer Program Season 6.0 lies in the changing nature of automotive innovation. As vehicles become increasingly connected and manufacturing operations more data-driven, the industry’s next advances may come as much from artificial intelligence developers, battery technology specialists and sustainability startups as from traditional automotive engineering teams. Whether these eight companies can translate their ideas into successful real-world applications will be the next important measure of the programme’s impact.
