Bill Gates-Backed Fictiv Opens India Office As Its Third Manufacturing Hub After U.S., China

Digital manufacturing company Fictiv, backed by billionaire investor Bill Gates and tech-cum-manufacturing major Honeywell, on Tuesday announced the opening of its India-based headquarters in Bengaluru.

After an initial launch in Pune and positive feedback from its customer base on the advantages provided by the region, the company is formalising its investment in India as its third manufacturing hub, joining its successful operations in the United States and China, Fictiv said in a statement.

"India has proven to be an emerging epicentre of R&D, manufacturing talent, and supply chain excellence," said Dave Evans, co-founder and chief executive of Fictiv.

To lead its operations in India, Fictiv has appointed Uday Shenoy as General Manager.

Shenoy brings over two decades of experience to the role, including supply chain and manufacturing operational knowledge from organisations like Tata Advanced Systems Ltd., Bombardier Aerospace, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., and HCL Technologies.

"As General Manager of Fictiv India, my focus will be to hire the strongest manufacturing and engineering talent, attract quality-focused manufacturing partners, and uphold Fictiv's values of service-mentality and creator spirit," Shenoy said.

"With this goal in mind, we aim to recruit and nurture 100 talented individuals for our new Bengaluru headquarters within the next 18 months. We're excited to grow throughout India, supporting our national mission to 'Make in India' and 'make for the world'," he added.

Joining Fictiv's engineering centre in Pune, the new regional headquarters in Bengaluru would serve as the manufacturing operations hub for India, staffing Fictiv-employed manufacturing engineers, logistics coordinators, supplier quality engineers and strategic sourcing managers, among other key functions.

Fictiv said it has received a total investment of $192 million from investors including Bill Gates, Honeywell and Intel Capital and has manufactured more than 20 million parts to date, the statement added.