Qualcomm Incorporated has announced the top ten finalists for the Qualcomm® Design in India Challenge 2019 organised by Qualcomm India Private Limited (Qualcomm India). Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2019 saw participation from Fintech, MedTech, IoT and Smart-Infra start-ups. The finalists were selected through a jury selection process in May 2019 at Bengaluru. Each of the finalists will receive a prize money of USD$10,000 and access to the Qualcomm Innovation Lab to transform their ideas and concepts into working prototypes.
The Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2019 is the continuation of Qualcomm India's initiative to provide support to Indian design houses and product companies for innovation and invention. The Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2019 aims to provide support to the domestic hardware ecosystem of India. Benefits offered to the start-up finalists, apart from the prize money, are:
Speaking on the occasion, Rajen Vagadia, Vice President, Qualcomm India Private Limited and President, Qualcomm India & SAARC, said, "This is the fourth year of Qualcomm Design in India Challenge and it has become one of India's longest running wireless hardware start-up incubation programs. The challenge continues to spur research and development for products targeted at both domestic and export market in areas of robotics, wearables, machine learning, smart homes, smart cities, agri-tech, medical-tech, and fin-tech. Innovation is what we strive for, and through Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2019 we continue to positively impact the product design ecosystem, that will contribute to enabling India achieve its Digital India and Made In India visions."
Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary (IPP), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), said "In recent years, India has seen a tremendous growth in the startup ecosystem. Initiatives like the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge are helping create a conducive environment for tech startups and enabling a Design in India ecosystem. Congratulations to all the finalists, I am thrilled to witness the innovative solutions showcased through this program and I look forward to seeing more Indian startups at the forefront of driving the global digital revolution"
The ten shortlisted companies of the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge 2019 are:
These top ten companies will start incubation at the Qualcomm Innovation Lab starting in July 2019. At the end of the incubation period, expected by March 2020, one winner and two runners up will receive a prize money of US$100,000, US$75,000 and US$50,000, respectively.