Smart Fifty Program details

In alignment with the Government of India’s “Startup India” initiative and driven by the objective of promoting inclusive socio-economic development in India driven by innovation and entrepreneurship, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP), which focuses on nurturing innovative start ups across India, announced in September 2017 its major international initiative – ‘Smart Fifty – 50 Solutions to Transform India’. This initiative was conceptualised and designed in association with the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India and was aimed at identifying, recognizing and rewarding aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs from various sectors who have come up with innovative entrepreneurial solutions which can transform India from a socio-economic perspective. It urged participants to present solutions that are SMART (Sustainable, Motivating, Affordable, Responsible and Transformative). The platform was also envisaged to evolve, for aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators, so as to facilitate their success through ongoing strategic networking, seed funding, and mentoring support.

The selected entrepreneurs got access to mentorship from the experts from IIMCIP on various aspects of business model, fund raising, and real-life lessons. On the other hand, DST‘s support provided them access to the start up ecosystem and seed fund for prototyping.

Smart Fifty was intended to be a major initiative to identify, recognize and reward aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs and innovators aiming to create large scale inclusive and positive across multiple domains in India. Further, the initiative was aimed at strengthening the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Startup India mission.

The Smart Fifty Grand Finale was held on March 25, 2018 and the winners were:

  1. Most Inspirational Solution category: Extra Carbon
  2. Most Innovative Solution category: Takachar
  3. Most Impactful Solution category: Sukriti

 

The following were the Top 10 teams who had the opportunity to present their ideas at the Smart Fifty Grand Finale:

  1. Aarna Biomedical Products Private Limited
  2. Multiversal Industries Pvt Ltd
  3. Nanoclean Global Private Limited
  4. Brun Health:
  5. Extra Carbon
  6. Sukriti
  7. Newandra Solutions
  8. Strom Motors
  9. Takachar
  10. Village Industrial Power

 

The following were the Top 50 teams of Smart Fifty:

1. Aarna Biomedical Products Private Limited:

‘Poorti’ is a post-mastectomy kit designed using a user-centric product co-evolution strategy where each component of the kit has been developed with iterative feedback as per the needs of end users, leading to both technical and anthropometric superiority over imported and expensive alternatives.  Apart from creating an affordable high-quality product, this is the first post-mastectomy kit in the world that provides a holistic solution to address the post-surgical needs of breast cancer survivors.

 

2. Agastya Buoyant Private Limited:

Agastya Buoyant specialises in manufacturing inflatable trash booms custom-designed for different kinds of water bodies, be it lakes, rivers or sea. Apart from arresting surface water pollution, they can be used as underwater lift bags to salvage underwater objects as well as create economical & effective inflatable barriers to protect important properties and installations from encroaching flood water.

 

3. Arlytic:

Arlytic has created a device that can be connected with a tractor and collect soil samples automatically, test all soil parameters faster and cheaper than existing systems, send the obtained data to their proprietary analytics platform, process it, and periodically give recommendations to farmers.

 

4. Arogya MedTech Pvt Ltd:

Arogya MedTech has designed CEREBROS, an easy-to-use, low-cost, portable, radiation-free, non-invasive brain scanner in the form of wearable headset with an embedded system optimized using “smart” algorithms. By integrating it with the AI-based tele-health platform, it can empower minimally trained community healthcare providers like AYUSH practitioners, Rural Doctors, Paramedics, Nurses and Community Health Workers to make rapid and informed choices regarding brain-related and neurological health of patients who cannot access normal brain scanning systems.

   

5. Automotron:

Automotron ensures recharging India’s e-transport through clean energy. It provides a clean energy alternative and use the existing refuelling infrastructure to recharge electric vehicles.

 

6. Billion Bricks:

Billion Bricks is an architectural design studio innovating shelter solutions for the homeless with its two products: WeatherHyde and PowerHyde. WeatherHyde is an insulated life-saving tent designed to save lives of homeless living in extreme weather, whereas, PowerHyde is the world’s first carbon-positive home designed for rural homeless which has been prototyped in India, Philippines and Sri Lanka in 2018.

 

7. Brun Health:

Brün is a first of its kind foetal monitoring device that aims to create an ecosystem that ensures better outcomes during child birth. Its patented technology ensures easy detection of vital signs improving usability while keeping costs manageable.

 

8. CNC Microscope:

To overcome human errors in microscopic investigation, CNC had developed a unique microscope design with most advanced automated features that makes it an error-free and user-friendly device. CNC microscope provides a platform that can integrate AI for image processing.

 

9. Cutting Edge Medical Devices:

The product being developed is a unique Non-Strip based urine protein analyser which uses only 2 ml of spot urine and performs urine protein estimation affordably, effectively and accurately. The device is an optoelectronic device which uses a novel biochemical mechanism to detect proteins in urine. The prototype has been validated at AIIMS Delhi in a Clinical Trial involving around 1000 samples with an overall accuracy and repeatability rate of over 95%.

 

10. Dream Soft Innovation (Edge):

Dream Soft uses gamification tools and techniques to make education more fun and interactive, so that students are eager to learn new things. With their proprietary application EDGE – Education in Graphical Environment – they want to integrate technology into educational content creation and create interactive visual content to make learning more understandable and enjoyable.

11. ExtraCarbon:

ExtraCarbon is a fast-growing platform where urban consumers can sell all recyclable waste products and help reduce environmental damage. In exchange of waste/used item, user can get credits which is a currency for them. With this currency (branded ‘Jhoomley Credits’), a user can top-up mobile phones/DTH, pay electricity bills, buy groceries etc.

12.Fabric Monde:

Fabric Monde has created a robust technology platform to seamlessly connect handloom products from rural cooperatives across India to mid-sized retail clothing shops and chains in the urban areas. The company aims at solving the problem of market linkage faced by rural handloom producers and accessibility to handloom products being faced by urban retail shops, by establishing an efficient, fair & transparent supply chain between the producer and the buyer.

13. Firolite:

FiroLite captures wasted heat from a cook stove or fire and turns it into electricity to charge cell phones, LED lights, and other small devices.

14. Girl’s Health Champions:

Girl’s Health Champions leverages the power of peer-to-peer learning, and trains adolescent girls worldwide as peer health educators and health leaders in their own schools and communities.

15. Greenpool Enterprise:

The design philosophy behind Greenpool is to solve the issues in the existing carpooling methods & enable the users to carpool for their daily commute. Greenpool Enterprise will become an internal tool to an organisation hence the adoption is much higher and organisations can reduce their transportation costs by an extent of 10% on an annual basis.

16. Guna Organics:

Guna promotes eco-positive consumption by working with farmer producer organisations & over 650 rural women farmers from Afghanistan and different Indian states such as Ladakh, Kerala, Uttarakhand by sourcing & marketing handmade organic products (organic dried fruits, cold pressed oils, handmade almond face and body scrub, seabuckthorn squashes etc). These interventions have ensured improved quality of agro produce and better time management and earnings for farmers due to consumers willing to pay higher prices for better organic products.

 

17. Happy Reliable Surgeries:

Surgical navigation is a state-of-the-art technology used globally for making complex surgeries like brain & spine safer. Their proprietary technology provides real time visualization of surgeon’s instruments on the virtual 3D patient within millimetre-level accuracy and subsequently provides live guidance to surgeon through a GPS-like device to precisely reach area of interest and avoiding damage to critical body parts.

18. India Health Link:

They have created an integrated self-service unit with bi-directional real-time connectivity to the India Health Link portal to give customers a holistic health and wellness platform. Its Integrated Health Management System ensures access to right health information through technology.

 

19. Indian Food Trail:

Indian Food Trail enables a consumer to enjoy an authentic home-cooked Indian meal sitting at home through the platform created by Indian Food Trail which connects lovers of Indian Food with capable and aspiring home chefs .

 

20. K2 Farms:

Their concept is integrating technology into agricultural system through IOT with soil-less cultivation. The IoT contributes significantly towards innovating farming methods and the integration of wireless sensors with agricultural mobile apps and cloud platforms helps in collecting vital information pertaining to the environmental conditions.

 

21. Leaf Box LLP:

LeafBox LLP creates air purifiers with plants in gorgeously looking pots creating aesthetically pleasing indoor spacea with abundant Oxygen and clean air for healthy breathing. LeafBox has created a unique product which absorbs VOCs, dust and particulate matters in indoor settings, an all-in-one solution for indoor pollution problem.

22. Mocxa:

Their product is a cutting-edge seizure diagnosis solution that is accurate, automated, accessible and affordable. The consolidated data snippet of the seizure is made available very quickly by automated upload via the cloud to the neurologist who then reviews the data and makes a diagnosis about epileptic patients.

23. Monc Technologies:

The objective of Monc Technologies’ product is to make amputees capable of managing their day-to-day activities and to get close to a normal way of life, thus boosting their self-confidence. They have designed a product – Relimb – which is an artificial hand which could replace the amputee’s lost hand by taking bio-signals from the amputee to control the artificial hand according to their wish without need of any manual triggers.

 

24. Monosha Biotech Private Limited:

Monosha Biotech’s product is region-specific Lyophilised Snake Venom used for manufacturing life-saving Anti Snake Venom (ASV), used for advanced medical R&D in the field of heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, tumour, neurological disorders, excessive bleeding, blood clotting and severe allergies.

 

25. Mother Diagnostics:

Mother Diagnostics have designed a low-cost Digital X-Ray machine. Their product costs only Rs. 86,000 whereas conventional digital X Ray machines currently available cost over Rs. 3,80,000. Further, their digital X- Ray machine has inbuilt tele-radiology software and provision for tele-radiology services.

 

26. Multiversal Industries Pvt. Ltd.:

Multiversal builds toilets for 1 to 4 people in association with local municipal corporations and concerned departments. It also identifies, trains potential entrepreneurs, caretakers and cleaners and works with them to make busy public areas open defecation and urination free.

 

27. Nanoclean Global Pvt. Ltd.:

Nanoclean Global Private Limited has developed the first-ever non-inserted, hypo-allergenic and self-adhering nanofiber-based respiratory disposable nasal filters to guard users against finest pollutants in the air and minimize the risk of respiratory diseases. The present product is a nasal filter which provides filtration of not only 2.5 pm aerosols but also to bacteria, viral infections and pollen allergies at costs lower than 5 times the existing competing products (as per the Global Nasal Filter Report 2017).

 

28. Navalt:

Navalt has come up with an innovative and environment-friendly solution for an inland passenger transport system. Their solution, solar-powered ferry, does not have any problems of pollution (air or water), it has low noise and vibration and no smell of diesel. Most importantly the daily operating cost is 1/40th that of diesel ferries (for a 75 passenger ferry, compared to Rs. 7000 daily for diesel ferries, Navalt solar ferry costs just Rs. 163 per day).

 

29. Newndra Innovations:

JaipurBelt™ is a novel, patent-protected, unpowered, lightweight (around weight of a helmet), affordable (equivalent to half the cost of an MRI), tested and effective exoskeleton to assist human spine and waist. It is particularly useful for manual workers such as farmers, labourers, workers or people who have to repeatedly or continuously bend their back, or lift heavy loads, or have spine & back problems like Kyposis, Spondylitis, due to work load, age, life style etc.

 

30. NonSpec:

NonSpec has designed innovative, highly affordable and adjustable prosthetic limb systems for all amputees to enable them to regain a better quality of life and dignity.

 

31. Piltover Technologies:

Piltover Technologies has thoughtfully engineered and carefully designed a prosthetic hand to strike the balance between cost and utility. Their artificial hand has a lightweight modular design with a movable thumb and wrist which is accompanied by a set of unique accessories that empower the user to execute specific daily tasks with higher efficiency. The product is governed solely by an interplay of mechanical forces and is operated by a knob mechanism.

 

32. PlenOptika:

PlenOptika’s QuickSee presents a revolutionary solution: Fast, affordable, accurate prescriptions requiring minimal training and resources. With QuickSee, eyecare professionals, nurses, teachers, and other healthcare specialists can help patients from India to Indiana to see better.

 

33. Renewate:

Renewate is the new must-use tool in the renovations (not interior design) business, specially designed for Asian markets. By simply using the technology over a mobile phone or a small computer, with a few clicks it can serve 3 basic objectives – Ideate, Create & Estimate all commercial & domestic renovation needs where a contractor can simply use his mobile phone and the Renewate mobile app, in his own preferred language for enabling marketing and sales of his services.

 

34. REVY Environmental Solutions Pvt. Ltd.:

REVY Environmental Solutions Pvt Ltd has invented a process to increase the efficiency of biomass granulation rate of suspended anaerobic sludge in a cost effective manner by exploiting inherent properties of bacteria to form granules and use carbohydrate rich effluent. The product is bio-culture(s) for Anaerobic Digester in the form of dry powder granulated sludge or in form of slurry as required by the industry.

 

35. RF Wave Technologies Pvt Ltd:

Rf Wave Technologies’ Soil Moisture Scanner (SMS) measures soil moisture at a minimum of 1000 locations every hour. Compared to conventional soil moisture probes that are labour intensive and expensive, requiring at least 30 sensors per acre, frequent maintenance and high levels of associated water wastage, the SMS requires only 1 sensor per acre, which does not require contact to be made with the ground, contributing to its durability and minimal maintenance requirement.

 

36. Sanjevani Khamar:

Sanjevani Khamar has created a unique business model involving artificial insemination of a highly valued breed of Black Bengal Goats, thereby creating rural employment generation and additional income for rural farmers. Preserving the germplasm of pure Black Bengal Goats is the main motto of the organisation. By using cryogenic containers the frozen semen of these goats are transferred to distribution points across all the districts of West Bengal. On-ground representatives interact with rural farmers to facilitate artificial Insemination. This leads to more rural jobs in Bengal & more income for farmers with goats.

 

37. Sense It Out:

An affordable smart irrigation & fertilization system developed by Sense It Out maximizes yield by optimizing the use of water & fertilizers in rural farms. The algorithms to optimize are built on the agri-research know-how and stored on their cloud through a system called “SICCA” (Sensor-based Intelligent Crop Centric Automation).

 

38. Shivam Biofuel:

The objective of Shivam Biofuel is to create a supply chain for municipal authorities to dispose garden & tree waste for conversion into biomass briquettes which can become an alternate source of energy for coal furnaces in industrial manufacturing facilities.

 

39. Startoon Labs Pvt Ltd:

Startoon Labs have come up with a very novel idea of making available to every engineer in the country a handy & affordable tool kit which is basically a “lab in pocket”, an innovative concept for the first time in the world, with a vision to empower every electronics engineer and enable him to have hands-on experience and testing capability, thereby aiming towards filling the academia-industry gap of the needed skills in the ESDM segment of India.

 

40. Strom Motors:

Strom Motors is launching an extremely affordable all-electric urban commuting vehicle. With its unique design incorporating an air-conditioned three wheeled reverse trike capable of seating 3 people, Strom Motors will provide the perfect vehicle for today’s urban youth, working professionals and young mothers.

 

41. Sukriti:

Sukriti makes ‘Eco-Lats’, smart public toilets. It ensures automated cleaning and maintenance of the toilets, which consume 90% less water and treat waste water on site.

 

42. Takachar:

Takachar creates a network of waste management enterprises that turn unmanaged agricultural residues into charcoal, a low-cost, non-toxic, and eco-friendly cooking fuel for low-income households. They have developed a series of low-cost (US$20), locally manufacturable technologies to enable waste-to-char conversion, which has been tested and refined in Kenya for the past 3 years, and now getting ready to be deployed in India.

 

43. TripMyWay:

TripMyWay is a first-of-its-kind tech-based platform in India which is built in collaboration with artists and historians to deliver a unique opportunity for tourists and visitors to engage with physical spaces which have historical or architectural value. They have chosen an iterative approach to building the experience using a variety of multi-media formats like images, text, audio and interactive maps.

44. Trueblue (Pocket Factories):

Trueblue is building India’s first automated supply chain management system in a form of website & mobile application to improve the production efficiency & capacity utilization of informal manufacturing sectors for apparels and lifestyle product categories. They are making bulk ordering a very user-friendly experience through their platform with the following services: Option to create/customize a new design, option to upload an already design directly in multiple formats, option to select the ready-made designs from their e-store, etc.

 

45. Unitech Consultants:

In a vertically integrated environment, Unitech Consultants will employ state-of-the-art ultrasonication assisted leaching technique to recover nickel contained within the catalyst wastes as nickel nitrate solution. This solution is further refined to obtain pure (industrial grade) crystallized nickel nitrate hexahydrate. The final product can be used in manufacturing industries such as ceramics, refractory, Nickel Cadmium batteries, mordants of reductive type, brick industry, electroplating, metal colouring, Nickel based catalysts, etc.

 

46. Utilization of Waste Plastic bags in designing tiles for Societal Usage:

Their technology on “Utilization of waste plastic to tiles designing”, offers a simple and novel process of production of tiles from the waste plastic bags and bottles. Thus, this technology not only provides a sustainable living for the people who are collecting them from the garbage but also enables converting waste into a useful product and thus saving the environment.

 

47. Vidyalay Udyam (School Enterprise): 

School Enterprise is the combined efforts of teachers, students and communities to bring individual expertise under the same roof and collaborate with each other to create a platform for participatory research and find out the need of communities to build indigenous solutions.

 

48. Village Industrial Power:

Village Industrial Power (VIP) provides reliable, affordable & clean biomass energy solutions to clients. Its mobile power plant enables rural farmers to increase the value of their crops ten-fold. Its pilot power plants are currently working in East Africa but will be launched in India very soon.

 

49. Whizpace:

Whizpace connects the unconnected through TV White Space (TVWS). White Space concept defines a new way of wireless communications since it differs from the traditional way how wireless communications work. TVWS network (unlicensed network) is using licensed spectrum (TV spectrum) for providing long-range and good penetration wireless communications as well as ensures that TVWS (secondary users) shall not interfere with the existing TV broadcasting (primary users).

 

50. Wordsmaya:

WordsMaya empowers youngsters with English communication skills through Facebook Messenger chats. Students get lessons as well as a personalized guidance from a mentor on a chatbot. They are also incorporating Artificial Intelligence to create adaptive learning experience and Natural Language Processing to optimize mentors’ time.