IIT Madras Incubation Cell, Kria Law to award exemplary innovations by young innovators

Chennai: The IIT Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC) in partnership with KRIA Law hosted the inaugural edition of the annual “IITMIC-KRIA'tive Innovation Awards” coinciding with the World IP Day on April 26, 2022.

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In alignment with this year’s theme of 'IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future', applications were invited from young innovators and startup founders from all across India to present creative and pathbreaking innovations under the categories of Technology and Social Innovation, the institute said.

Eighty applications were received from 10 states including Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Delhi, and more.

Judging the young innovators in the category of “Technology innovations” were members in the Indian startup and IP ecosystem including SK Murthy, Patent attorney, Intel India, Rajan Srikanth, co-president, Keiretsu Forum and CMD, SmartKapital and Smitha Srivastava, faculty, Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras.

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In the social innovation category, the jury present included Poorna Pushkala, Marketing Head, Samunnati, Srinivas Ramanujan, CEO, Villgro Innovations and Anand Shetty, GM - Patent Group, Unilever.

IITMIC-KRIA’tive Innovation Awards 2022

“In addition to the monetary prizes, select finalists were also offered incubation at IITM Incubation Cell, based on the novelty of the innovation, commercial feasibility, and scalability, it said.

The winners of the IITMIC-Kria’tive Innovation Awards announced under each category were:

Technological Innovation:

Winner: Paul Pradeep, Founder, Medcuore Medical Solutions Pvt Ltd

Innovation: Medcuore is developing an Eco-centric AI-IoT Integrated Smart Alert Indoor Air Quality Monitor, and an Anti-Microbial- 7 stage filtration module.

Runners up: Ikram Khan SI, Founder, ISMO Bio-Photonics Private Limited

Innovation: ISMO is developing a low-cost 3D printed organoid on a chip, which can be used for medical research and diagnostics.

Second runners up: Pranjal Mehta, Founder, Ubifly Technologies ( ePlane Company)

Innovation: ePlane Co is building India's first and the world's most compact flying electric taxi, designed to make cargo transmission and intra-city commute up to 10 times faster.

Social Innovation:

Winner: Nishanth S, Founder, Novatex Technologies Pvt Ltd

Innovation: A retrofit electromechanical based device to replace manual punch cards used in weaving machines, significantly saving time, costs and making it less labour intensive.

Runners up: Divanshu Kumar, founder of Solinas Integrity Pvt Ltd

Innovation: Solinas uses robotics for pipeline inspection solutions ensuring sanitation, clean drinking water and aims to save thousands of human lives that are lost while cleaning septic tanks.

Second runners up: Lokeshwar Reddy, Co-founder, Road Pilot Technologies Pvt Ltd and Pravin Kumar, Founder, Dextroware Devices Pvt Ltd

Innovation:

1. Road pilot technologies is introducing the first mobile app in the Indian trucking industry, which serves as a platform to connect and fulfil the needs of Truck Owners, Truck Drivers, Mechanics, & Dhaba’s.

2. Dextroware's head-wearable device enables handsfree operation of computers & smartphones, specifically designed for people with upper-limb disabilities or injuries thus enabling accessibility to education, jobs and other opportunities.

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The event also brought forth insightful exchanges from a stellar IP industry expert lineup through a panel discussion on “Innovation to Commercialization” exploring the various technological, business, and social perspectives of IPs in technological development & commercial deployment.

Speaking on the vision of this awards, Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala, President, IIT Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC) and IIT Madras Research Park (IITMRP), said, “The most important thing in innovation is to make sure R&D results in commercialization. We strongly believe that by giving youngsters the opportunity to present their innovations through initiatives like this we can help them in scaling and commercializing their innovation to create real largescale impact in society. We want them to win because when they win, India wins.”

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Bharath MS, Founder, KRIA Law said, “KRIA Law had the pleasure of collaborating with IIT Madras Incubation Cell to conclude the first Annual IITMIC-KRIA'tive Innovation Awards, with the theme of IP and Youth Innovating for a better future. The interactions between the industry stalwarts, were also most relevant for the young entrepreneurs, Startups and Incubatees on many nuances of Innovation, IP protection, commercialization and bridging the gaps between Corporates and University based R&D centres.”

“With the inaugural edition of the IITMIC-Kria’tive Innovation Awards underway, the IITM Incubation Cell in its 10th year now with an impressive track record of 260 deep-tech startups in its portfolio valued at over Rs 30,000 Crores, continues to bring forward more initiatives to support & benefit young, aspiring entrepreneurs at various stages of their startup journey,” IIT Madras added.