India holds the 2nd rank of the populated country on the planet, so it’s obvious, it has millions of bright minds to offer. As of recent years, India has emerged as one of the largest developing economies in the world and as a country, we continue to encourage innovation and new ideas. It is of utmost importance to promote and support the start-ups and new ideas of the upcoming generations in order to collaboratively rectify the issues and problems that are dominating the planet. Considering this, The Government of India has launched several incubation programs for MSMEs. Same holy deed, Lemon is doing privately. Lemon approaches Government of India and private players to help these emerging entrepreneurs. Innopreneurs is a competition that has been launched by Lemon Ideas as an annual contest in 2014. It has evolved much from the conventional B-plan contest to the larger and capable platform for changing the world. It has transformed into a popular national level platform that encourages entrepreneurs/ students/ professionals to bring ideas, innovations to a common ground and let ideas turn into reality. Not by design but because of consistency, Innopreneurs continues to be among top google search results for entrepreneurs and startup founders. Along with time, Innopreneurs has proved to be an integrated platform for the innovators, aspiring entrepreneurs or individuals for the ignition of their entrepreneurial spirit and to grow competitively.
In 2021, we laded up with the 6th edition of Innopreneurs. Innopreneurs, a platform for start-up founders, entrepreneurs, and aspirants to showcase their ideas in action and reap the benefits of validation, networking, mentoring, and funding opportunities today announced the 10 winners of its 6th edition in presence of Chief Guest, His Excellency Lyonpo Loknath Sharma, Minister of Economic Affairs, Bhutan. ‘Innopreneurs was organized for one year, and it’s our 6th edition of Innopreneurs, we have been able to give a stage to over 350 start-ups and entrepreneurs and conducted over 35+ digital rounds. In this 6th edition, we were able to take Innopreneurs to India and 5 other countries around the world and in the process sign over 150 partners. We had over 1000 start-ups registered and over 5000+ entrepreneurs as an audience,’ said Deepak Menaria, Founder and CEO of Lemon Ideas. His Excellency, Lyonpo Loknath Sharma, Minister of Economic Affairs, Bhutan, ‘I want to convey the greetings of his excellency, the king of Bhutan. We would like to have more interaction and partnerships with the Lemon family. You have created a really good ecosystem; we want a similar ecosystem in Bhutan through you. We need mentors and people to aspire to our young entrepreneurs and I see Lemon playing a pivotal role in doing this. Entrepreneurs have to not only look for money but should focus on inner peace. Skilling is important for us. We want your support in that.’ With over thirty regional rounds in the country itself in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Telangana, etc. Innopreneurs was organized in 5+ countries like in Maldives, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
Here giving some words of notable personalities, those are playing pivotal roles to make it happen.
“Good to see one more year of Innopreneurs, now spreading across South East Asia. Good work filtering the top 10, I found it worth my time listening to all of them. I am very impressed with the kind of innovations here. I want to see this forum grow into a community that is engaged continuously and has continued learning,” said Nagaraja Prakasam, Angel Impact Investor & Partner – Acumen Fund.
“I was on the Finale Jury, the ideas I witnessed were amazing they have great potential! What impressed me the most is the variety of ideas; it throws light on the effort that has gone into bringing all these ideas here. Lemon has been a very valuable partner for GIZ. We are coming out with programs to include some of the start-ups in the Indo-German connect program.,” Mr. Shankar Kumar (Special Guest), Technical Expert & Advisor at GIZ added.
Vatsal Kanakiya, 100x venture capital, said “This was a wonderful experience. Very innovative ideas for both local and global contexts. I am blown away by the quality of pitching and teams.”
“Lemon’s ecosystem is nurturing. My biggest takeaway was the collaboration spirit. I enjoyed this journey thoroughly and learned a lot from the start-up community,” said Anil Alex, Sales Leader – India & ANZ at Portescap.
“Exciting to see age is just a number (contestant’s age bracket 15 – 58), it doesn’t affect the depth of work. There were many varied fields, but one thing I found common, is the passion among all of them and resilience to achieve the ideas,” said Dr. Charvi Mehta, Technical Expert at GIZ.
“As a competition that was launched by Lemon Ideas in 2014, the platform has evolved from a conventional B-plan contest to a platform capable of transforming the definition of entrepreneurship as a whole. With various partners ranging from Embassies, Incubators, Ecosystem Organizations, Co-working Spaces, Government Departments, Corporates, etc., this year Innopreneurs was able to bring many voices to the table.
“Grand Finale of Startup contest Innopreneurs 2020 scheduled on February 20. Some key facts about this are below.
1. The sixth edition of the annual event organized by Lemon Ideas had more than 1000 participants from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Maldives.
2. The program over 6 months witnessed more than 500 startup presentations.
3. Partners for this edition included German federal organisation Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), manufacturer Portescap and Bangalore based analytics startup Discover Dollar (winner of 2 nd edition).
4. Prominent sectors include Healthcare, Environment, Energy, Agriculture, Education, E-Commerce, Social Impact among others.
5. More than 60% of teams in the top 100 have a patent dimension in their story.
6. Top 100 startups to get mentoring, a chance to pitch to investors, participate in experiential learning activities and explore collaborations with other startups.
Nagpur: The sixth edition of the annual startup competition Innopreneurs organized by incubator Lemon Ideas has come to an end after taking both the national and international entrepreneurial landscape by a storm for the past several months. The grand finale of the competition will be held on February 20 in the presence of eminent guests including Shri Lyonpo Loknath Sharma, Minister of Economic Affairs, Bhutan, Mr Burak Buyukdemir, Founder, Startup Istanbul among others. Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Mahendra Nath Pandey is expected to join the award ceremony.
Innopreneurs 2020 saw registrations of more than 1000 startups not only from India but also from countries like Maldives, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. They were selected through a rigorous exercise that consisted of more than 50 online selection rounds conducted virtually over a period of six months. The eminent panel of Jury and Keynote speakers as part of the finale includes Dr Nagaraja Prakasam- Impact Investor, Vatsal Kanakiya-CTO, 100X.vc, Chintan Bakshi- Startup Oasis, Hemant Gupta- BSE Sammaan CSR, Prajakt Raut- Applyifi, Raghu Cavle- SVP- Infosys, Shankar Kumar from GIZ and Dheeraj Saxena, of Portescap. Founder of Discover Dollar Subrahmanya Rao –winner of 2015 edition would be prominently present too. We believe in turning challenges into opportunities. We believe Lemon into Lemonade. No wonder that many of the participants this year focused on solving the unique set of problems that the COVID 19 pandemic brought into our world. The digital avatar we had to take this year also gave us the opportunity of going international; said LEMON founder Deepak Menaria. He said there were several groundbreaking ideas presented during the competition that he would like to see turn into successful businesses soon. ‘This time, it’s not just the competition, through the Centurion Startup Stage, Lemon School of
Entrepreneurship (LSE) has conducted 100 hours of pre-finale engagement activities for the top 100 startups as part of the larger objective of the platform,’said Innopreneurs CEO Krishnkant Chaturvedi. The participants had readiness boot camp, guest talks/AMAs (Ask Me Anything), mentoring sessions, experiential collaboration activities, pre-finale pitching rounds, exclusive investment rounds, incubation explorations and corporate collaboration exploration. All these activities happened between January 30 and February 19. The top 500 startups will also have the chance to attend a three months long Master Class conducted by experts from LSE under the leadership of Lt Col Saurabh Shah (Retired) Several partner organizations that helped conduct the regional and international rounds include various embassies, incubators, and prominent colleges, co-working spaces, government departments and corporates. Chief among them were German federal agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), manufacturer of miniature motors Portescap and Bangalore based analytics startup Discover Dollar. Notable guests during the various events at Lemon included Shri Anurag Thakur, member of parliament and Shri Devendra Fadnavis, former chief minister of Maharashtra, Mr Hanmant Gaikwad (Founder – BVG) Mr Anil Joshi, Managing Partner of Unicorn India Ventures, Ms Shanti Mohan, Founder and CEO Lets Venture, More than 100 experts, entrepreneurs participated as Jury during various pitching sessions from 20 cities across India & Abroad. Companies like 100x.vc, Aurum Ventures and NextGen Ventures are the exclusive investment panel while others such as Ah! Ventures, Venture Catalysts, Indian Angel Network, FundVice, Faad Network, Chandigarh Angel Network, VDOSH Capital would join the investment rounds too. We would like to pay a notable mention to our lead partners this year. First, we have
1. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) which is an international organisation created for sustainable development with worldwide operations in various parts of their world. GIZ aims at development through the dissemination of new technologies and innovations to promote and strengthen growth.
2. We have Portescap which is a leading manufacturer of miniature motors for performance-critical applications. Through their various innovations in fields ranging from medical devices to aerospace and defence, Portescap has helped bring versatility to Innopreneurs. Our last lead partner is a familiar organization.
3. Discover Dollar. Discover Dollar helps companies identify and resolve overpayments and leakages by analysing data using AI and technology. Discover Dollar has made a name for itself amongst Indian startups have won various international awards.
Overall, our partners and lead partners have greatly contributed to Innopreneurs and its success. Over the course of Innopreneurs 6th edition, we have had various guests come and go. Our guests have devoted hours and hours to helping our entrepreneurs and our community with advice from lived experiences and have crafted speeches and talks to share with our Lemon community. A few examples of notable guests are Mr Anil Joshi, Managing Partner of Unicorn India Ventures, Ms Shanti Mohan, Founder and CEO LetsVenture, Shri Anurag Thakur, member of parliament and Devendra Fadnavis, former chief minister of Maharashtra and many more! Further, To provide the participants, with the best possible experience, Innopreneurs hand-picks their Jury members to ensure the best quality of the examination for its participants. These members all come from esteemed and established positions in companies all around the world. Some members of our jury have been Mandar Akant, the V.P (Trade Forex) HDFC Bank, Kapil Sharma, the Founder, PADHARO, Aditya Shah from TiE Udaipur and various more. In terms of our investment panels, we have two primary types of investment panels for our participants who make it to the last rounds. First, we have exclusive panels with institutions such as 100x.vc, Aurum Ventures, and NextGen Ventures and various experts all across the country and the USAA. Further, we have our generic investment panel with companies such as Ah! Ventures, Venture Catalysts, Indian Angel Network, FundVice, Faad Network, Chandigarh Angel Network, VDOSH Capital. Another unique element of Innopreneurs, our 6th edition is the Centurion Startup Stage. The Centurion Startup Stage program is a programme being conducted over the next 3 weeks during the pre-finale engagement of Innopreneurs Startup Contest (6th Edition) wherein Top 100 startups from India
and other South Asian countries would have access to the following: Readiness Boot Camp (10 Training Sessions), Guest talks/AMAs (Ask Me Anything), On the 18th of February, we will have our long-awaited finale pitching from our Top 25 startups, along with a Panel Discussion titled ‘Post Covid- What drives Entrepreneurs: Problem or Funding’ and on the 19th we will have a roundtable discussion with CEOs. After our finale, we have the coveted Grand Finale on the 20th of February with the Grand Finale Pitching by Top 10 Startups, addresses from our respected guests and the long-awaited award ceremony for our winners. But, Innopreneurs does not stop there. Our post- Grand Finale events entail Incubation Explorations, Corporate Collaboration Explorations, Investment Explorations and Innopreneurs Committed Value (which comprises various handbooks, workshops and resources which are valued at over a lakh in amount) for our Top 500 Startups. We will also be providing them with access to our 3 Month Master-Class on Entrepreneurship along with showcasing our Top 100 Startups Publication and sharing our ‘Startups Stories’ which will feature blogs and videos from the event. All in all, despite the trying and complicated times that COVID-19 has presented not only to Innopreneurs but all struggling entrepreneurs wishing to make their ideas into a livelihood, We hope that Innopreneurs 6th edition has been able to come through strong and provide numerous individuals with life-changing experiences. From the various boot camps and resources to the networking opportunities and the exposure provided at Innopreneurs, we hope that each participant will walk away from this competition with a valuable lesson and a will to continue to grow their ideas into fruition.
Here are the top 10 publications.
1. HVA Chemical Solution Pvt. Ltd.
2. Solnce Green Energy LLP
3. GoWash
4. BMH TRANSMOTION
5. Chezuba
6. Druksell
7. Supply.mv
8. iAudit (Infilytics Private Limited)
9. Agri Yug
10.Hesa Rural
HVA Chemical Solutions Pvt. Ltd. HVA makes solid-fuel from single-use waste plastics through a patented process. With over 40% more Gross Calorific Value (GCV) than wood and higher burning time, This product can generate energy as much as fuelwood in less than 50% of the time and has a shelf life of 10 years. This fuel burns with high-efficiency and thus converting most of the waste plastics to energy and ash. Test report suggests a low amount of CO2 (80% less than fuelwood) is being released, no heavy metals released and no emission of CO, SO2
and NO2 gases. The manufacturability of our product is highly robust and scalable as the fuel shows a low variation in performance for any plant capacity. HVA Chemical Solution got 1st prize. This shows the role of energy in future. The nation with sustainable energy setups will rule the world. The Kardashev scale is a method of measuring a civilization’s level of technological advancement based on the amount of energy it is able to use. The measure was proposed by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev in 1964. We are a Type-I civilization. We’re not able to fetch energy even from our own solar system completely. So we can say that energy is the future and Saguna Annamalai proved it again.
By
Vaibhav Singh
Hindu College. University of Delhi
New Delhi – 110007
Phone. +91-9455599489