Adiuvo Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd. received INR 65,00,000 as the winner
Total award pool of INR 85,00,000 for the runners-up
Qualcomm Incorporated announced the winners of its fifth edition of Qualcomm Design in India Challenge, India’s longest running hardware startup incubation programme.
Twelve of India’s top startups were selected among dozens of applicants for incubation in areas of technology, business and intellectual property rights.
Three winners were chosen after completing the annual incubation cycle.
Adiuvo Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd. for their solution for early disease detection through optoelectronics was the winner of the 2020 cohort, bagging an award of Rs 65 lakh.
Planys Technologies Pvt. Ltd. came with its innovative technology offerings in underwater robotic inspection; first runners-up, winning awards of Rs 50 lakh
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Wellnesys Technologies Pvt. Ltd. with its digital healthcare respectively; second runners-up that won Rs 35 lakh.
In addition to the awards for the top three startups, the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2020 offered the following benefits to all the finalists:
- Patent-filing incentives: Guidance through IPR workshops and reimbursements for patent filings of up to Rs 1.6 Lakh for a full utility patent application filed with either the India PTO or US PTO, for up to two patent filings.
- Accelerator Services: Business accelerator services including diagnostic assessments, workshop interventions on scaling parameters such as operations, customers, competition, product, financials, organization building and seeking investments.
- Access to Qualcomm Innovation Lab: Access to dedicated lab for startups housing state of the art test equipment for 2G-5G cellular network testing, camera and audio tuning, temperature and humidity chambers for environmental tests.
- Participation at industry events: Virtual events where startups had opportunity to engage with Secretaries of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT); Startups also got an opportunity to showcase their products at Qualcomm Innovation Forum and at various domestic and international digital and social platforms through stories and videos.
Furthermore, an Innovation Commercialisation Fund (ICF) with an initial fund size of Rs 60 Lakhs was launched in 2020. Three alumni startups were eligible for reimbursements of cost incurred towards industrial designs and manufacturing product to fulfill initial customer orders.
Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2020 cycle partnered with AGNIi – The National Technology Commercialisation Programme executed at Invest India (The National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India), as an outreach partner and received 155 applications from over 20 states including many in north-east.
Drive innovation
The Qualcomm Design in India Challenge programme is part of the mission to drive innovation in India and invest in ideas that have potential to strengthen and accelerate the country’s digital economy.
Launched in 2016, Qualcomm Design in India Challenge has, till date, incubated 65 hardware and artificial intelligence (AI) startups and distributed a total awards of Rs 12.3 crore.
The programme has enabled startups to showcase their solutions at leading industry forums and gain exposure to investors, policymakers, and global audiences. These startups have collectively filed for over 150 patents, won national and international recognition, and raised over USD 82 million in funding.
Qualcomm India Private Limited President Rajen Vagadia said in its fifth year Qualcomm Design in India Challenge has presented an opportunity to identify and back some of the most promising startups whose solutions could help people and businesses recover strongly from the effects of pandemic and look forward to sustained growth enabled by technology.
Startup ecosystem
“I am proud of the initiative and the creativity that the 2020 cohort has demonstrated, and we are proud to support the winners in taking their ideas forward. The programme continues to prove, year after year, that Indian startups have the potential to address many of India’s and the world’s social and economic issues; they just need the right support at the right time,” said Rajen Vagadia.
With 5G and AI, Rajen Vagadia said Indian startups are expected to create a formidable impact, both locally and globally”
Qualcomm Incorporated Vice President, Engineering, Sudeepto Roy said Qualcomm is proud and privileged to have been able to strengthen the startup ecosystem in the country for the last five years through the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge.
“We will continue to invest in purposeful innovations that are transforming the mobility space and crucial sectors such as agriculture to healthcare. Our larger mission is to cater to the emerging tech talent at the grassroots level by offering them a unique combination of incubation in technology, business and patenting areas while enabling their hardware and systems designs through access to Qualcomm Technologies’ platforms and technologies,” said Sudeepto Roy.
Design challenge
Sudeepto Roy also said Qualcomm believes that the success of the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge startups is akin to the company’s success.
“As India strides to becoming the global powerhouse of technology, we are privileged to be empowering startups like Adiuvo Diagnostics who are developing state-of-the-art healthcare solutions,” said Sudeepto Roy.
Qualcomm Design in India Challenge has been inspired by the growing digital talent and the vast smart mobility ecosystem in India, which can pave the way for groundbreaking changes in the infrastructural, medical, and rural IoT spaces.
The 2021 programme will also provide an opportunity for Qualcomm Design in India Challenge startups to devise and design new use cases through the new 5G development board designed by Qualcomm engineers.
Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship
Fostering a creative and forward-thinking entrepreneurial ecosystem continues to be a key focus area through initiatives like Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship which invests in University Masters & PhD students and Qualcomm Women Entrepreneurs India Network which empower women entrepreneurs.
L2Pro India software, an app developed for Indian entrepreneurs and inventors, help various stakeholders in developing a deeper understanding of valuing and protecting their intellectual property.
- Winner: Adiuvo Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd. innovated a multispectral imaging device combined with Machine Learning algorithm to aid in rapid, label-free detection and classification of wound infection-causing bacteria & fungi in under 2 minutes.
- 1st Runner-up: Planys Technologies Pvt. Ltd for its Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT) enabling underwater drone platform.
- 2nd Runner-up: Wellnesys Technologies Pvt. Ltd. developed a smart Yoga Mat with interactive feedback, real-time posture assessment and an immersive audio-visual experience.
Qualcomm is the world’s leading wireless technology innovator and the driving force behind the development, launch, and expansion of 5G.
Mobile revolution
When Qualcomm connected the phone to the internet, the mobile revolution was born. Today, Qualcomm foundational technologies enable the mobile ecosystem and are found in every 3G, 4G and 5G smartphone.
Qualcomm brings the benefits of mobile to new industries, including automotive, the internet of things, and computing, and are leading the way to a world where everything and everyone can communicate and interact seamlessly.
Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of our engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of our products and services businesses, including our QCT semiconductor business.
