Hyundai Motor India Foundation and AssisTech Foundation Launch Samarth UnnATi for Assistive Tech Start-Ups

The Hyundai Motor India Foundation (HMIF)—the CSR arm of Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL)—has partnered with the AssisTech Foundation (ATF) to launch Samarth UnnATi, an assistive technology (AT) start-up scale-up program under the broader ‘Samarth by Hyundai’ initiative. Designed to foster innovation and accelerate the adoption of assistive technologies in India, the program seeks to identify, nurture, and scale high-potential start-raisers developing solutions that enhance accessibility, independence, and societal participation for persons with disabilities.

Grant Support and Ecosystem Development
To bridge the gap between innovation and deployment, the programme provides a dedicated INR 75 lakh grant support to enable market access, scale-up, and wider distribution of innovative AT solutions. Key pillars of the initiative include:

Capacity Building: Nurturing market-ready and revenue-generating start-ups through mentorship and knowledge networks.

Ecosystem Linkages: Facilitating investor connections and strategic partnerships.

Stakeholder Engagement: Strengthening engagement with disability welfare institutions and officials to establish a sustainable framework for long-term inclusion.

Leadership Perspectives
Highlighting the vision behind the initiative, Mr. Gopalakrishnan C S, Trustee of HMIF, emphasized that accessibility and innovation are powerful enablers of inclusion, noting that the partnership with ATF aims to support innovators addressing real-world accessibility challenges. Echoing this outlook, Prateek Madhav, CEO and Co-Founder of AssisTech Foundation, pointed to UN projections estimating global demand for assistive products to reach 3.5 billion by 2050, asserting that Samarth UnnATi will serve as a vital engine to nurture and deploy these critical solutions at scale.