Qualcomm announced the winners of the 2019 edition of the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge today. The Qualcomm Design in India Challenge is India’s longest-running wireless hardware startup incubation program. Blackfrog Technologies Pvt. Ltd. won the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge, while Detect Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and Grinntech Motors and Services Pvt. Ltd. secured the first and second runner-up spots respectively. The reward money for the winner was INR 65 lakh, while the runners-up took home INR 50 lakh and INR 35 lakh respectively.
Launched in 2016, the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge encourages startups to develop innovative hardware products using Qualcomm Technologies’ advanced technologies. To help them launch their products in the market, the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge offers professional scaling workshops to shortlisted startups along with IP generation incentives of up to INR 3.2 lakh to each startup to boost innovation.
The 2019 edition of the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge witnessed quite a few entries for smart infrastructure, followed by medical tech, robotics, automotive and machine learning from startups showcasing their innovative products and solutions. Select startups also participated in events like CES, Taipei Startup Fest, and India Mobile Congress.
With its fifth edition now open for registration, the 2020 Qualcomm Design in India Challenge continues to spur research and development for products targeted at both domestic and export markets in wearables, artificial intelligence/machine learning, smart homes, smart cities, and medical tech. The 2020 Qualcomm Design in India Challenge will also be open to using cases for 5G and NavIC capability on mobile devices. Key elements of the 2020 Qualcomm Design in India Challenge include:
- Prize Awards: Shortlisted startups will get an initial amount of up to INR 3.2 lakh. At the end of the incubation period, the winner of 2020 and first and second runner up will be awarded INR 65 lakh, INR 50 lakh, and INR 35 lakh, respectively.
- IP Generation Incentive: The Qualcomm Design in India Challenge will provide each startup an amount up to INR 3.2 lakh for full patent applications, filed with either the India PTO or the US PTO during the incubation phase of the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge.
- Access to Accelerator Program Services: The startups will have access to certain accelerator services at no additional cost, covering areas such as diagnostic assessments, workshop interventions on scaling parameters like operations, customers, competition, product, financials, organization building and seeking pre-series A and series A investments.
- Opportunity to be incubated at NASSCOM CoE for IoT (NEW): Up to 3 startups may be given 30 seat-months at a NASSCOM Center of Excellence for IoT at no cost to them without having to go through the standard application process.
- Innovation Commercialization Fund (NEW): Starting this year, the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge will offer an Innovation Commercialization Fund (ICF) with an initial fund size of INR 60 lakh for the year. ICF is available to all Qualcomm Design in India Challenge alumni startups and will be used for reimbursement towards one or more of the expenses incurred towards taking the product commercial – such as certification cost, costs incurred towards industrial design and/or manufacturing cost towards customer orders subject to applicable terms and conditions.
For more information on the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge:
https://www.qualcomm.com/company/locations/india/design-in-india-program
