The 9th season of INNOPRENEURS, a global startup contest concluded with a captivating Grand Finale event held at the Chitnavis Centre, Civil Lines, Nagpur on Sunday, 2-Apr-23. It was organized by Nagpur-based Startup mentoring organization Lemon Ideas and supported by Faulhaber, Hala Mobility & Orange City Water. This event showcased the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurial talent that India’s new generation has to offer.
Mr. Mukesh Ashar (Director- Lemon School of Entrepreneurship) kicked off the event with an inspiring address to the esteemed guests, jury, and audience. In this season, more than 1200 teams registered and 400+ startups pitching across India and 15 other countries in the preliminary rounds. Out of the top 100 teams shortlisted for the Pre-Finale round, Top 35 teams (25 startups and 10 Ideas) were selected for the Finale. The Top 10 teams which included a team from New York, USA pitched for the Top honors in front of a packed audience at chitnavis center. A Nagpur startup Zoom Solar made it to the top 25 elite club. Other teams travelled to Nagpur like Varanasi, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Similguri among others.
The distinguished panel of jury members included Mr. Sameer Bendre (COO, Persistent Systems), Mr. Lionel Gommery (Head O&M, Veolia India), and Mr. Anuj Badjate (MD, Badjate Group). The event was graced by the presence of Dr. Bhimraya Metri (Director, IIM Nagpur) as the Chief Guest.
The 9th Edition of INNOPRENEURS saw a range of diverse and groundbreaking ideas. The Winner in the What an Idea category was Ctrl Z Environmental Technologies (Mumbai) received a cash award of INR 50,000. Ctrl Z is making Graphene out of Agricultural waste and using an innovative method for waste water treatment. Apratima Biosolutions Pvt Ltd was the 1st runner-up from Bangalore and Sand Bird from Chennai was declared as 2nd runner-up.
In the main Startup category, Tech Eagle Innovations from Gurgaon emerged the Winner , claiming the top prize of INR 1,00,000. Techeagle is solving last mile delivery problems with a fleet and end to end infrastructure for Drones. The team also received the Popular Choice award from the audience. Farm Sathi from Hyderabad bagged the 1st runner-up prize while Genexis Biotech from Vadodara secured the 2nd runner-up position.
Founder of Lemon ideas, Deepak Menaria shared about the Lemon journey of 10 years and emphasized the need for mindful entrepreneurship and cautious use of AI like technologies as well as keeping foundation strong with right values and intention.
Dr. Bhimrao Metri emphasized the importance of recognizing stories from rural India and praised Lemon Ideas for being an independent startup ecosystem working pan India. He highlighted the need to raise awareness about government policies and support for startups in small villages and underscored the significance of building sustainable businesses in urban areas.
The Grand Finale of INNOPRENEURS Season 9 was a true testament to the innovative spirit and entrepreneurial prowess of India’s bright minds, setting the stage for an even more exciting Season 10, which would be initiated in July 2023. The Lemon team including Amartya, Shreelesh, Ashwin and Dikki worked hard to make season 9 a big success.
