As part of NXP’s ongoing journey toward enabling a better, safer, more secure
and sustainable world, we’re a sponsor of the
Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), a competition focused on empowering startups to innovate in 10
categories inspired by the
United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, such as Cleantech energy and environment, digital health, mobility and
sustainable smart cities.
In India, we’re in the second year of our lead sponsorship of the regional
competition. During the robust first year, more than 192 Indian startups
applied and then were reviewed by nearly 60 evaluators over the course of a
month. The top-ten startups received months’ worth of free access to
state-of-the-art lab equipment and technology and partner support to help
them convert their ideas into functioning prototypes. The three winners
received prize money and mentorship from NXP India’s technical experts to
develop ideas ranging from battery pack design and manufacturing to help boost
the growth of EVs in India, to miniaturized gas sensors to make homes safer.
Momentum continues in 2022 with a robust increase to 252 Indian tech startup
applicants.
We have a huge number of customers and they are masters at applying chip
technology to new end-user innovations, so naturally we are open and eager to
expand our ecosystem with startups we hope can successfully apply our
technology. Lars Reger, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer,
expounded on this, saying "I want to enable a ‘playground for startups’, and
hope the XTC will contribute to that".
We were also a first time sponsor of the XTC regional competition in the
Netherlands and Belgium. The winner was a company that discovered a solution
for cooling computer chips more efficiently for reduced energy consumption and
improved chip performance. A special mention went to a biotech company that
used beer waste and other food byproducts to make alternatives to single-use
plastics. As a bonus, a third finalist was chosen to go to the global
competition in recognition of their innovation that mimics natural cell
membranes to make biocompatible and high performance medical device coatings.
Intriguingly, NXP’s technologies and solutions are not just enablers of
sustainable function, such as electric battery management, but they help
developers design solutions that are easier to use, more reliable, safer and
use less energy.
Follow along on NXP’s sustainability journey by downloading our latest issue
of
Sustainable Stories.
