by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Entrepreneurship, News, Politics, Startup Basics
Bengaluru : Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday called upon startups to develop technologies and weapons for the Indian armed forces.
“We (Ministry of Defence) want you to provide Indian solutions to problems faced by the armed forces. By indigenisation, India doesn’t need to import many of the products that we do,” Sitharaman told startups in this tech hub.
“India wants its sectors disrupted through technological advancements,” she said at the launch of “Defence India Startup Challenge”, a national contest for startups to develop arms and technologies for the defence sector.
“Indigenisation has been a priority for India, however, we did not indigenise sufficiently enough,” the Minister added, addressing a gathering of 200 startups, incubators and defence officials at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Convention Centre in the city centre.
Through the contest, startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individual researchers and academic institutions can take part in 11 different categories of creating technologies and products that can be used by the armed forces.
The 11 categories in which the startups and researchers can develop products or solutions include building see-through armour for the army, development of 4G-based tactical Local Area Network for the Navy, and laser weaponry and unmanned surface and underwater vehicles development for the Air Force, among others.
Select few startups will also receive a funding of up to Rs 1.5 crore through the Ministry for developing their ideas, and given access to test their products.
As part of the event, a Bengaluru-based firm Tonbo Imaging has been given an order to make night fire control system for Russian-made grenade launcher AGS-30.
“The Ministry will ensure the startups working on their ideas get the orders,” Sitharaman said.
Noting that unmanned drones with missiles are the envy of many countries, the Minister added it is not beyond India’s capacity to develop them.
The Defence Ministry, on the occasion, also tied up with five business incubators to promote and support the startups, including Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship with Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad; Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay; T-hub startup incubator in Hyderabad; ‘Forge’ incubator in Coimbatore; and IIT Madras.
“The contest is in line with the Innovations for Defence Excellence (IDEX) scheme announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in April during Defence Expo in Chennai, to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in defence sector,” an official statement said.
The competition will also give a fillip to the country’s innovation potential and create networks for collaboration between defence sector and startups, it added.
Over 200 startups, 50 SMEs and 12 business incubators took part in the defence-business gathering.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Business Ideas, Corporate, Corporate Buzz, Entrepreneurship, Markets, SMEs, Startup Basics, Technology
Hyderabad : Disruptive business ideas on extended reality, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology and Internet of Things (IoT) by Indian startups at the “Demo Day” of the Boeing HorizonX India Innovation Challenge on Monday.
At the event held at Boeing’s India Engineering & Technology Center (BIETC), Merxius, HUVIAiR and ZestIoT joined three teams from BIETC in presenting to an audience of prospective investors and customers, as well as government stakeholders.
The Demo Day marks the culmination of a three-month accelerator programme launched in collaboration with T-Hub, a global startup catalyst that powers entrepreneurship. Following a stringent evaluation process, six teams from a competing pool of more than 100 ideas and applications, have won the opportunity to join the cohort.
The ideas presented by the three external finalists range from Extended Reality (XR) applications to the use of IoT for aerospace, said a statement from T-Hub.
Merxius has developed a product that enables the creation of XR environments to save cost and reduce training time in aerospace manufacturing. HUVIAiR refined custom unmanned aircraft services and software solutions for survey and workflow management. ZestIoT explores solutions that connect the airport and airplane ecosystem using IoT to optimize ground handling at airports and improve on-time performance of airplanes.
The six shortlisted startups took part in a three-month accelerator where 30 subject-matter experts from Boeing and T-Hub mentored them and exposed them to potential customers, while strengthening their offerings and capability.
“The collaborative ecosystem of corporates and startups, like the one T-Hub is driving in the country, will become a common trend in a few years. Boeing brings a strong legacy of technological breakthroughs, and we are immensely pleased to collaborate with them in exploring the right startup talent to support its innovation goals,” said Jay Krishnan, CEO of T-Hub.
“Innovation can happen anywhere and startups around the world have the potential to bring disruptive capabilities to aerospace markets and drive our industry forward,” said Brian Schettler, Managing Director of Boeing HorizonX Ventures.
Boeing will continue to collaborate with the three external startup teams to help further their businesses. The ideas presented by the Boeing teams are under evaluation as potential future company offerings.
“Both external startups as well as internal ideas promise to disrupt business models and service delivery in aerospace. We are excited to tap into a new pool of ideas from India which will surely change the global aerospace industry,” said Pratyush Kumar, president, Boeing India.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Vadodara : Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday stepped up his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of remaining silent on the controversy surrounding the tremendous increase in the turnover of a company owned by BJP chief Amit Shah’s son.
There has been an amazing transition from ‘beti bachao, beti padhao’ to ‘beta bachao’, he jibed at the government over its slogan of saving and educating the girl child.
The Congress leader referred to a news portal report on the 16,000-fold increase in the turnover of the company owned by Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah before the firm was shut ahead of the November 8 demonetisation last year.
Gandhi also sought to link the issue with the Modi government’s initiatives.
“Modi ji announced ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India’ in 2014. I do not know what came in the mind of Shah ji and how it came. It was a big innovative idea and he did his work. In three-four months, the (turnover of) Rs 50,000 became Rs 80 crore. He got unsecured loan. And a very interesting thing happened. This highly successful company was closed by (Jay) Shah ji in 2016. How the chowkidar (gatekeeper) of India is quiet. He is not speaking a word,” Rahul Gandhi said.
Gandhi, who interacted with the youth here, addressed a series of meetings as part of his campaign for the coming Gujarat assembly polls, and said the central problem of the country was unemployment.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi came up with a slogan of “Beti bachao, beti padhao (save girl child, educate her). But here, what is happening is save the son of Amit Shah,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi also took potshots at Modi in a tweet. “Amazing transition from Beti bachao to beta bachao,” he said.
The Congress leader continued in the same vein in many of his speeches during the day and raked up the issue of Jay Shah’s business.
“There was talk of ‘Make in India’ and startups. Startup is not visible but there is an icon of all startups. It was about an eight-year-old small company with Rs 50,000 turnover. But after (BJP) coming to power in 2014, it became Rs 80 crore company. What happened that a profitable company was closed? The chowkidar should reply.”
“Is he (Modi) a ‘chowkidar’ (watchman) or ‘bhagidar’ (participant)?” Rahul Gandhi said at a meeting in the home state of both Modi and Amit Shah.
The Congress Vice President slammed the Modi government over demonetisation and the manner in which the Goods and Services Tax was rolled out on July 1.
“You hit the farmers of Gujarat, you hit small traders, medium businessmen, and from this fire one company rises and that company is of Amit Shah’s son. This is a sign of Modiji’s Startup India,” Gandhi said amid applause from the audience.
“What a Startup it is. They put Rs 50,000 and Rs 80 crore were made (turnover) in months. What a Startup India, Make in India it is. Now, only one task is left — the Startup India, Make in India has happened in one company and now they should distribute it to others. This is the thinking of the BJP, Narendra Modi,” he said.
Gandhi said that the earlier Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government’s record in generating employment was far better than that of the Modi government.
The Congress leader said there should be single-minded focus on job creation. “If our government comes to power, we will do this,” he said.
“We will bring policies after understanding your needs. We will listen to you and not impose our ‘mann ki baat’,” Rahul Gandhi said. ‘Mann ki Baat’ is Modi’s monthly address to the people through All India Radio.
Rahul Gandhi also said that people should be allowed to express themselves and even unpleasant criticism should be tolerated. “I do not believe in suppressing anyone,” he said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Entrepreneurship, Startup Financing
Mumbai, (IANS) Indian entrepreneurship propeller Nasscom 10000 Startups has teamed up with IvyCamp in a strategic alliance to build an Internet of Things (IoT) entrepreneurship ecosystem.
“With this collaboration with IvyCamp, we aim to promote an IoT ecosystem, which is vibrant and at the same time innovative, which will help our country attain a leadership role in this field,” said Nasscom 10000 Startups vice president Rajat Tandon in a statement.
The collaboration will connect start-ups, investors, mentors and industry bodies to work together while IvyCap Ventures’ initiatives IvyCamp will provide guidance on formulating and driving the IoT business.
One of the key activities of the collaboration will entail organising an annual Rendezvous for the IoT Ecosystem. The first event has been lined up at Nasscom 10000 Startups’ Navi Mumbai Warehouse on July 1, and will focus on bringing together innovators, mentors, investors and corporates from IoT space to impart education on latest innovations and challenges.
“Through this association, we will provide a platform to the budding entrepreneurs to connect with the industry veterans to seek guidance for formulating and driving the IOT innovations and help the ventures grow,” said IvyCap Ventures CEO Vikram Gupta.
IvyCamp is a unified technology based platform for innovation and entrepreneurship while its parent IvyCap Ventures is in the process of raising its second fund of Rs 600 crore.
IvyCap has already deployed Rs 250 crore through its maiden fund in 2015, with investments in FT cash and Grabon rent start-ups.
