In the 12th edition of Conquest, BITS Pilani's startup challenge, Project Mudra, a technology-based startup that provides Braille literacy and K12 lessons for the visually challenged, clinched the title this year. Comfort Products, a startup specialising in the manufacturing of home appliances, was announced as the runner up. The winner and the runner up have been awarded Rs 200,000 and Rs 100,000 respectively.
The startup challenge, which began in April this year, attracted around 1,200 applications. Of this number, after a month-long analysis of the startups on the grounds of their revenue model, market traction, customer acquisition, and various other parameters, the top 50 were shortlisted.
These top 50 then attended the networking sessions held in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Mentors shared their expert opinions with startups on critical aspects like fundraising, product management, customer acquisition, tech and operations. The top 10 startups were then selected by the jury to be a part of the grand finale.
Here, we are listing the startups that made it to the top 10 list.
Project Mudra: Founded by Aman Srivastava and Sanskriti Dawle, it is a BITS Pilani ed-tech startup that aims to create an ecosystem for visually challenged people through apps, software and hardware.
It is a Braille-Dicta teacher. The product comprises a Braille hardware set connected to the single-board Raspberry Pi device. The hardware set consists of a small palm-sized box with six pegs which move up and down to create shapes indicating letters and numbers as per the Braille system. The product can be operated in three modes— browse, auto and exam mode.
Comforts Products: Swiftchill, made by Comfort Products, a startup that specialises in manufacturing home appliances, is a beverage chiller that chills beverages instantly. The team says that, being energy efficient, SwiftChill will revolutionise the way beverages are chilled all over the world.
Buddy4Study: This startup helps individuals and organisations set up their own scholarship programmes as social and CSR initiatives.
This scholarship search engine, which claims to have over 144,000 subscribers, arms students with all the required information on the latest scholarship opportunities, enrolls them with the best scholarship providers, and mobilises funds from the providers to the beneficiaries, nurturing potential and elevating the chances for a better education.
It says that it has helped 6,500 students with scholarships worth beyond Rs 5 crore, and intends to facilitate over 10 million students with scholarships by 2025.
Hound Electric: Founded by Paul Alex, Laxmikant Banjarey, Midhun Mohan and Arun Prabhakar, the startup has built a high-performance, low-cost energy-efficient electric superbike that, it claims, can outsmart even a high-performance, turbo-charged 600cc motorcycle.
MaaxMarket: This is a cloud-based marketing automation platform designed for businesses to automate follow-ups.
The platform targets the businesses with the aim of personalising their sales.
It says that it is using machine learning and predictive analytics, which uses data points to automatically send content to customers based on their online behaviour.
Watsan Envirotech: This company works in developing water and sanitary solutions for the rural population. It manufactures and distributes low-cost, electricity-free water filters to urban slums and rural families.
It says that its aim is to improve the living standards of at least 100 million families within the next three years, by providing the most efficient, electricity-free, affordable water filters and ready-to-fit toilets, ensuring a dignified, happy and healthy life.
Ekam Eco Solutions: Ekam Eco Solutions works in the domains of sustainable sanitation, value-added bamboo products, and sustainable livelihoods.
Their objective is to design, develop and disseminate safe and sustainable sanitation solutions so that the abundance of pure water is restored.
Indusbuzz Technologies: The startup, which is now called Realpurchase, is an online marketplace for the construction industry.
This SaaS-based platform focuses on the "Just in Time" model in the construction industry, and connects every stakeholder with business intelligence. It claims to set up an integrated network between the suppliers, construction developers, consultants, contractors and professional individuals.
Ethnus Technologies: This nine-year-old platform runs various training programmes for students and claims to make them industry-ready.
According to the platform, it has carved a niche for itself by focusing on mentoring and consulting at the grass root levels, be it students, colleges or even training programmes. Its aim is to bring about qualitative change in campus recruitments.
JoGo: Launched in 2015, this is a gamified health and fitness platform. It tracks workout activities and also offers reward points on burned calories.
The platform integrates with health and fitness apps, and converts workout metrics into points, which one can redeem in the form of other products, according to the platform.
The Conquest event, organised by BITS Pilani's students, is a commendable step towards promoting entrepreneurship among students, which is currently lacking in the country.
Source: Top 10 startups featured at BITS Pilani startup challenge Conquest
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