Qualcomm Reveals The Name of Its Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2017 Winners

Qualcomm Incorporated announced the winners of Cycle II of its Qualcomm® Design in India Challenge 2017. Bangalore based, Sensara Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. and Lightmetrics Technologies Pvt. Ltd. won the challenge with their innovative technologies and solutions. The winners took home prize money of $75,000 each.

• Sensara Technologiesdeveloped a Smart TV solution on a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ mobile platform. Using Edge Compute and Advanced Analytics, their solution redefines the TV watching experience.
• Lightmetrics Technologiesused the CV and ML capabilities of a Snapdragon mobile platform to enable a highly robust and intelligent ADAS product. Integrated with a cross platform video safety solution, the device provides better data and actionable insights into driving behaviour.

Launched in 2016, the program has incubated twenty-four start-ups so far with an overall investment of over USD 8.5Mn. An accelerated design program that supports fast design cycles and time to market, it utilizes Qualcomm’s longstanding presence in India and its technologies to help Indian companies design and create products in the IoT space for global markets. In September 2017, Qualcomm had announced, Tagbox Solutions Pvt. Ltd. and Steradian Semiconductors Pvt. Ltd as the winners of Cycle I of Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2017 at the India Mobile Congress in New Delhi.

Congratulating the winners, Jim Cathey, senior vice president & president, Asia Pacific & India, Qualcomm International, Inc. said, “In this cycle of the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2017, we witnessed creative ideas for innovative products and services across sectors in Smart Cities, Med-Tech, Machine Learning, Fin-Tech and Automotive. It is a proud moment for Qualcomm to announce these two winners who have created cutting edge technologies and solutions addressing the needs of the present world.”

Qualcomm also announced the top fifteen finalists for Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2018 program, who will receive initial seed money of USD10,000 each to develop or further refine their prototypes using Qualcomm® technologies in the Qualcomm Innovation Labs. Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2018 will see its latest cohort of start-ups address new opportunities in the domains of Smart Infrastructure, Biometric Devices, Payment Terminals, Agricultural Technology, Medical Technology and Rural IoT. Three winning start-ups will be selected from these fifteen shortlisted entries in early 2019.

Talking about what to expect in the 2018 program, RajenVagadia, country manager, business development, Qualcomm India Pvt. Ltd., said, “We are thrilled with the overwhelming response we received for the 2018 chapter, which marks an increased focus on putting start-ups on an accelerated path towards growth and development. Our shortlisted finalists come from all over India, representing a diverse range of products & applications across different spheres. Augmenting this diversity, we have three of our shortlisted start-ups run by women entrepreneurs.”

Vagadia added, “Apart from the technical incubation support which has been highly appreciated by the start-ups, we’ve added new elements to the program, like encouraging the start-ups to file patents for their innovations, enabling greater visibility. We provide mentorship to these start-ups, through a professionally managed accelerator program which helps them assess and scale their operations, which we have seen is very important for success of these brilliant ideas of start-ups, in the commercial world.”

Supported by Qualcomm Technologies, these top fifteen companies will be incubated at the Qualcomm Innovation Labs in Bangalore and Hyderabad. New elements of the 2018 program:

• Winners Prize Awards:At the end of the incubation period, the winner of 2018 and two runners up will be awarded with USD100,000, USD75,000 and USD50,000 respectively.
• Patent Filing Incentive: Qualcomm will provide each start-up an amount up to USD5,000 for patent applications, filed with either the India PTO or the US PTO during the incubation phase of the program.
• Access to Accelerator Program Services: Qualcomm, through its association with Anthill Ventures, will offer accelerator services to all start-ups at no additional cost, on various parameters such as series A and pre-series A pitch preparation, operations planning, industry connects, competitive landscape analysis, financials & cash flow and product management.

The fifteen shortlisted companies for the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2018 edition are:

1. Artificial Learning Systems India Pvt Ltd. –Bangalore, Karnataka - An AI enabled product that can detect diabetic retinopathy on handheld devices.
2. Avantari Technologies Pvt.  Ltd. –Hyderabad, Telangana - A wearable platform for keeping track of cardiac parameters (ECG, Heart sounds, BP, Heart Rate), which is combined with remote monitoring capabilities to predict cardiac abnormalities at an early stage.
3. Bioscan Research Pvt. Ltd. –Ahmedabad, Gujarat - A hand held brain haemorrhage detector that is non-invasive and fully computerized.
4. Chigroo Labs Pvt. Ltd. –Bangalore, Karnataka - A Smart-Cradle for baby sleep management and health monitoring.
5. Dimension NXG Pvt. Ltd.–Thane, Maharashtra - A platform that aims to decrease cost, time and errors involved in Operations and Training, using an AR/VR headset called “AjnaLens”.
6. Janitri Innovations Pvt. Ltd. –Bangalore, Karnataka - An affordable, easy to use, wearable and portable fetal heart rate and uterine contraction monitoring device.
7. Lazy Design Pvt. Ltd. –Pune – Maharashtra - A behavioural AI powered smart ring that predicts and displays the right shortcuts for users and enables control with a swipe of a finger.
8. mBreath Technologies Pvt. Ltd. –Kharagpur, West Bengal - “SleepDoc”, a world’s first multi person AI-driven wireless sleep assistant to non-intrusively monitor vital parameters.
9. MobiusWorks Pvt. Ltd. –Bangalore, Karnataka - A smart wearable, Wagr” and a mobile app that helps keep your pets safe and fit.
10. Nearex Technologies Pvt. Ltd.-Bangalore, Karnataka - An affordable 3G/4G Payment Terminal.
11. PiOctave Solutions Pvt. Ltd. – Bangalore, Karnataka - A Smart network video recorder (NVR) and Gateway for the connected home.
12. Sensworx Systems India Pvt. Ltd. –Hyderabad, Telangana - A Cellular IOT based Smart Water Meter, which provides real time water analytics, water leakage, health monitoring and performance.
13. ShelliosTechnolabs Pvt. Ltd –New Delhi - A Smart helmet that not only protects the head, but reduces the impact of pollution, heat and impaired communications on a rider.
14. TestRightNanosystems Pvt. Ltd. –New Delhi - A Pocket device to determine colour shade of objects.
15. Turtle Shell Technologies Pvt. Ltd. –Bangalore, Karnataka - A non-contact, non-intrusive device that converts bed-time into regular health check-up time for patients with chronic sleep disorders.