Meet the 12 startup finalists of Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2020

San Diego, California headquartered chipmaker Qualcomm on Wednesday said it has chosen 12 finalists for the fifth edition of its wireless hardware startup incubation programme for India.

The startups, which were part of a selection process spanning 150 applicants in June, will start incubation at the Qualcomm Innovation Lab from July, as per a statement.

Each finalist in the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2020 will receive Rs 3.2 lakh for full utility patent applications, along with mentorship opportunities, incentives for patent filing and business development opportunities through the technology company’s global sales and business teams, the statement said.

Additionally, after a mid-cycle review in September 2020, approved startups will get an additional grant of Rs 1.6 lakh each. The total reward pool for the top three winners was pegged at Rs 1.5 crore.

“We are confident that this initiative will continue to spur research and development of products that are designed in India and targeted at both domestic and global markets in areas of robotics, smart homes, smart cities, 5G and much more,” Rajen Vagadia, Qualcomm India head, said.

Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2020 collaborated with AGNIi, a government-led programme that helps commercialise Indian technological innovation, for the selection process.

The jury included senior executives from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), government’s Invest India, NASSCOM and various business units.

The programme has also instituted an Innovation Commercialization Fund (ICF) of Rs 60 lakh for 2020. The fund is available to all Qualcomm Design in India Challenge alumni startups, who can claim reimbursement for the costs incurred while commercialising their products.

“Our intent was to encourage startups to develop innovative hardware products using Qualcomm’s advanced technologies and we are encouraged and inspired to see the level of innovation that has emerged from India over the last few years through this programme,” Sudeepto Roy, vice president of the engineering vertical at Qualcomm, said.

The 12 shortlisted startups, from the areas of smart robotics and drones, smart infrastructure, agritech, rural internet of things (IoT), medical technology, 5G and regional navigation system NavIC, according to the statement, are as follows:

Adiuvo Diagnostics: Founded in 2015, the Chennai-based startup makes multispectral imaging devices, combined with machine learning algorithms, to aid rapid, label-free detection and classification of infection-causing bacteria and fungi in under two minutes.

Aubotz Labs: Founded in 2019, the Mumbai-based startup produces Peppermint, an intelligent telematics assisted floor cleaning and disinfecting robot.

Bagmo: Founded in 2016, the Kochi-based startup offers a blood bag monitoring solution that can help blood storage centres maintain a safe and adequate amount of blood in health facilities in rural India.

Embedsense Solutions: Founded in 2015, the Bengaluru-based startup provides an IoT-based structural health monitoring solution, which it claims will transform the way the country maintains transportation infrastructure. With the solution, passive structures will be made “smarter” by enabling them with artificial intelligence and machine learning, thereby reducing maintenance costs and making public infrastructure safer.

Hachidori Robotics: Founded in 2019, the Bengaluru-based startup provides obstruction detection services and helps autonomous mobile robots avoid obstructions.

Nemocare Wellness: Founded in 2017, the Hyderabad-based startup develops wireless wearable sensors and networks, analytical algorithms and big data as tools to provide for health monitoring solutions, with a special focus on newborn distress management.

Peer Robotics: Founded in 2019, the New Delhi-based startup builds mobile robots for movement of materials in warehousing, manufacturing and assembly lines.

Planys Technologies: Founded in 2015, the Chennai-based startup creates drones for IoT enabled underwater inspection solutions in the marine industries. 

Prakshep: Founded in 2016, the Bengaluru-based startup works with enterprises to achieve agricultural efficiencies using data science, satellites, drones and vehicle sensors.

Senselink Technology: Founded in 2019, the Ghaziabad-based startup operates a soil intelligence system using a patented NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) sensor and AI-based agronomy solutions to improve crop yield and fertiliser management. 

Vacus Tech: Founded in 2017, the Bengaluru-based startup is a provider of wireless indoor positioning solutions for automated configurable fencing, precise positioning and accounting of assets and people.  

Wellnesys Technologies: The Cumming, Georgia-based startup, with a research and development centre in Bengaluru, is a provider of a “smart” yoga mat that offers interactive feedback, real-time posture assessment and an audio-visual experience.