Submissions close on 23 October 2026. The Hyundai CoE Mobility Innovation Ideathon, launched by Hyundai Motor Group under its Hyundai Centre of Excellence (Hyundai CoE), is hunting for student ideas that could shape the future of cars in India — and it is putting roughly INR 10 lakh in prize money on the table.
The competition runs from September through early December 2026 and is open to students of the seven Hyundai CoE member universities: IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, VNIT Nagpur and Tezpur University. The theme is ‘Enhanced In-Vehicle Experience’ — ideas that improve the time Indian customers spend in their cars through AI, user experience, software-defined vehicles, digital content and personalisation.
Students can submit across four challenge categories: India-Smart Interaction, AI-Powered & Digital In-Vehicle Experience, Next-Generation In-Vehicle Interface and Smart Value Innovation. Ideas go in through a dedicated microsite, after which each university runs a preliminary screening. Preliminary winners will be announced on 30 October 2026, followed by an offline semi-final judged by Hyundai Motor Group evaluators. Seven finalist teams will present at the grand final on 16 December 2026, where the jury picks the grand prize winner.
Hyundai CoE, established in 2025 as the group's collaborative research platform with Indian academia, says the ideathon is meant to turn industry-academia collaboration into a talent-discovery and idea-generation channel — and that promising ideas could feed future Hyundai mobility research.
Why it matters for founders
This ideathon is for students, but founders should watch it like a talent market. The finalists on 16 December will be some of India's sharpest young mobility thinkers — exactly the co-founders and early hires a mobility startup needs. And if you're a student with a vehicle-UX idea, a Hyundai-backed win is a serious launchpad. Submissions close 23 October.