Lockheed Martin looks to invest in India’s women-led startups
, ET Bureau|
Dec 16, 2017, 12.38 AM IST
HYDERABAD: Global aerospace and security giant Lockheed Martin, which currently has two large joint ventures with the Tata group in India for aerospace and defence equipment manufacturing, is looking to invest in technology startups, with a special focus on women-founded ones, says its deputy executive vice president Lorraine M Martin.
The women leader, with three decades of Lockheed Martin experience and four-and-a-half years with the US Air Force, said efforts were also on to encourage women entrepreneurs through seed funding, for which they had collaborated with the Indian government and recently with Tata Trusts.
More than a decade of support to startups in India has already created over 400 businesses, many of which were founded by women, with over $900 million of cumulative revenues, she said.
"We have been very involved in some of the investments to help new ideas, innovative strategies that individuals or teams might have to help invest in them. We have been supporting them for the last 11years through India Innovation Growth Program (IIGP) where we offer $2 million a year of resources and mentoring to startups through competition, wherein we had partnered with the Government of India, Department of Science and Technology and most recently with the Tata Trust, doubling our resources," she told ET.
"We have put aside several million dollars to support any innovative idea that could change the world, many of them coming from women individuals and teams. About 400 ideas have taken root and about $900 million in revenue from these innovative entrepreneurs so far."
Highlighting various initiatives to encourage women to join the technology manufacturing workforce and towards inspiring them at early ages towards science, technology, engineering and maths, she said, "We (at Lockheed Martin) would like to have half the workforce as women, which is what our population is. All the studies have shown that diverse workplaces are more productive. Studies show that companies with women in senior leadership perform better."
Lockheed Martin, currently, assembles the tail section of C130 cargo aircraft and cabins of S92 helicopters at its manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad, apart from meeting certain requirements of global defence and aerospace giants like Rolls Royce, General Electric and UTC.
While most of the components of cargo aircraft tail and helicopter cabins are being made in the US currently and assembled at Hyderabad, Lockheed Martin is now looking to set up additional manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad to produce these components locally, assemble and send them across to the US, she said.
The women leader, with three decades of Lockheed Martin experience and four-and-a-half years with the US Air Force, said efforts were also on to encourage women entrepreneurs through seed funding, for which they had collaborated with the Indian government and recently with Tata Trusts.
More than a decade of support to startups in India has already created over 400 businesses, many of which were founded by women, with over $900 million of cumulative revenues, she said.
"We have been very involved in some of the investments to help new ideas, innovative strategies that individuals or teams might have to help invest in them. We have been supporting them for the last 11years through India Innovation Growth Program (IIGP) where we offer $2 million a year of resources and mentoring to startups through competition, wherein we had partnered with the Government of India, Department of Science and Technology and most recently with the Tata Trust, doubling our resources," she told ET.
"We have put aside several million dollars to support any innovative idea that could change the world, many of them coming from women individuals and teams. About 400 ideas have taken root and about $900 million in revenue from these innovative entrepreneurs so far."
Highlighting various initiatives to encourage women to join the technology manufacturing workforce and towards inspiring them at early ages towards science, technology, engineering and maths, she said, "We (at Lockheed Martin) would like to have half the workforce as women, which is what our population is. All the studies have shown that diverse workplaces are more productive. Studies show that companies with women in senior leadership perform better."
Lockheed Martin, currently, assembles the tail section of C130 cargo aircraft and cabins of S92 helicopters at its manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad, apart from meeting certain requirements of global defence and aerospace giants like Rolls Royce, General Electric and UTC.
While most of the components of cargo aircraft tail and helicopter cabins are being made in the US currently and assembled at Hyderabad, Lockheed Martin is now looking to set up additional manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad to produce these components locally, assemble and send them across to the US, she said.
