Forge offers Managed Open Innovation Services to public/social/development sector agencies, institutions & enterprises
Forge offers Managed Open Innovation Services to public/social/development sector agencies, institutions & enterprises - enabling them to engage with high-growth tech startups through an accelerated pathway for co-development, validation, certification and procurement of breakthrough technologies and futuristic solutions - ultimately driving technology-powered & innovation-catalysed transformation.
The Ministry of Defence’s Innovation for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative is a critical step towards achieving self-reliance and export excellence in BUILDING & BUYING strategic defence technology and product innovation, thereby bolstering India’s Defence & Deterrence capabilities to global best standards.
The program is designed for empowering visionary innovators & ambitious entrepreneurs to develop advanced technologies and products for Indian Defenceand has emerged as the largest open innovation platform for India’s national defence and security. Forge has played a pivotal role in devising the iDEX framework in the design, execution, and institutionalisation of key program SOPs of iDEX’s vertically integrated Path2Procurement process ultimately leading to procurement under the Innovation category introduced in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020.
Through this, iDEX seeds, accelerates and scales India’s defence tech startup ecosystem - building internal selfstrengthening mechanisms to foster defence R&D in next-gen military tech, advancing India’s self-reliance not just in defence production and product but also in defence technology & capabilities - at global best standards.
iDEX pioneers a Path2Procurement framework for PRODUCT MANAGEMENT APPROACH leveraging Startup Innovation to gain Early, Preemptive, Exclusive, Indigenous, and Localised access to futuristic tech translated into operational capabilities, determinedby evolving military doctrines. The iDEX platform facilitates the acceleration and scaling of Innovator-User co-creation and procurement of Strategic Defence & Security Technologies, supported by iDEX’s Product Management Approach (PMA) that was developed by Forge—enabling innovators & military users to Define the Right PRODUCT, Build the Right PRODUCT, and Build the Product RIGHT.
Defining the Right PRODUCT involves ensuring the completeness and accuracy of requirements to effectively translate the needs and expectations of military users and operators. It also focuses on enabling the seamless transition of the innovation project’s outcomes from the development phase to commercial procurement, facilitating accelerated readiness for defence production and acquisition.
The Right PRODUCT is the one offering the Right Utility (Features & Functions), designing the Right Usability (UX, Integration & Operations), and guaranteeing the Right Quality (Performance, Reliability & Standards).
Building the Product RIGHT entails implementing best practices in the design and engineering of defence-grade solutions, completing requisite procedures for integration, trials, and certification iteratively at appropriate intervals to minimise technical debts and preempt costly failures. It also involves designing products to meet defence-grade standards of scalability, complexity, ruggedness, reliability, and volume, ensuring manufacturability and deployability in line with military expectations. Additionally, the product must be optimised for easy extensibility, upgrades, and maintenance operations, aligning with military procedures.
iDEX PROJECTS ONBOARDED, MENTORED & MANAGED
PROCUREMENT CONTRACTS WON
GRANTS SANCTIONED
PROCUREMENT ORDERS UNLOCKED
PROCUREMENT ORDERS IN PIPELINE
INVESTMENTS RAISED BY FORGE’S DEFENCE TECH STARTUPS
City Innovation Exchange is an initiative by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), in partnership with Forge, aimed at helping 4000+ Urban Local Bodies across the country to adopt innovative & technologically advanced solutions from startups—Transforming the Urban Public Sector in the country.
As the Knowledge and Capabilities Partner to MoHUA, Forge played a pivotal role in developing the program and is actively supporting 100+ Smart Cities in implementing SmartProcure—an innovation procurement policy by MoHUA, co-authored by Forge. This policy, implemented through the CiX Digital Platform, accelerates Lab-2- Procurement of innovative & technologically advanced solutions by enabling cities to directly procure solutions from startups, fostering transformation and sustainability within urban governance.
CiX unifies People, Policy, Process, and Digital Platform necessary to realise the vision of Digital Transformation of public sectors through Open Innovation powered by startups as technology & innovation partners.
URBAN TECH STARTUPS ONBOARDED ONTO THE CiX DIGITAL PLATFORM
PROCUREMENT ORDERS
PROCUREMENT ORDERS ISSUED TO STARTUPS THROUGH SMARTPROCURE
CITIES ONBOARDED ONTO THE CiX DIGITAL PLATFORM
IMPACT
INNOVATION PROGRAMS
The impact sector harbours immense social & developmental transformative potential, with a substantial market opportunity. Impact Innovation Startups are unmatched in their frugal innovation approach making them well-positioned to drive innovation and growth in a resource-constrained environment - offering affordable and accessible alternatives while operating efficiently and keeping costs in check by doing more with less. Forge.Foundry’s Impact Innovation Programs offer catalytic capital for product development of impact innovations as well as subsidise the implementation of impact innovation projects by deep tech startups within public and private sectors - while offering them a structured accelerator program to grow & scale them into successful tech enterprises.
Forge.Foundry’s Impact Innovation Programs address these challenges by providing catalytic capital to startups commercialising advanced technological olutions for the social and developmental sectors. Through commercial pilot grants and innovations in procurement policies, Forge enables streamlined pathways for startup-led impact solutions to scale effectively.
To facilitate the seamless adoption of innovations in the impact sector, policy interventions are introduced to streamline procurement pathways, aimed at enabling the direct procurement of impact innovations from startups by both public and private sector entities.
To overcome adoption barriers and drive the adoption of innovations in the impact sector, startups are supported with commercial pilot grants. These grants fund pilot projects implemented with prospective buyers/ customers, partially subsidising the overall project cost for them. Successful implementation of these pilot projects provides proof of concept for future largescale deployment, creating a measurable impact while reducing risks for buyers/customers.
Impact Innovation Grants, implemented by Forge, in partnership with HDFC Parivartan, aimed at funding startups commercialising technologically advanced solutions for addressing critical challenges in the areas of Climate Change Resilience & Reversal. The startup grant is primarily positioned as a pilot grant for market stage startups to fund a pilot project implemented with their prospective buyers/customers which essentially subsidises in part the overall project cost for the buyer/customer and the successful implementation of the pilot project builds proof for a large-scale deployment in the future. This ensures that the prospective public and private sector clients/buyers of impact startups adopt technological solutions at a lower risk & cost, overcoming rigid procurement processes, insufficient budgets and adoption barriers when introducing new technologies into their operations.
Through this program, four climate tech startups have received funding to execute pilot projects with potential buyers over the course of 6 months. These pilots aim to generate substantial impact while proving the feasibility of scaling the solutions.
Currently, four successful startups have been selected within the climate tech sector. Over the next 6 months, these startups will execute pilot projects with their potential buyers with an objective of generating substantial impact.
APPLICATIONS RECEIVED
STARTUPS SHORTLISTED
STARTUPS SELECTED (WINNERS)
GRANTS OFFERED TO STARTUPS
IMPACT INNOVATION NEXUS
Impact Innovation Nexus is an impact accelerator program, in partnership with Karur Vysya Bank, is aimed at providing Catalytic Capital (Pilot Grants) for subsidising the implementation of impact innovation projects by deep tech startups within public and private sectors, while offering a startup accelerator program to operate & scale them as successful tech enterprises.
Subsidising pilot projects for impact-driven tech innovations by startups & helping them demonstrate real-world impact - thereby reducing risk and cost for public and private sector clients, and easing adoption barriers and rigid procurement processes for new technologies.
Offering tech labs, strategic advisory, market access, and investment pathways to drive product, revenue, and growth for impact startups tackling social, environmental, and developmental challenges in public and industrial sectors.
PILOT PROJECTS
IMPACT STARTUPS UNDER ACCELERATION
COMMERCIAL PILOT GRANTS
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