National Innovation Challenge
National Innovation Challenge
Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) and Hitachi India through its Research and Development Centre are conducting a National Innovation Challenge for the Indian startups. The challenge invites startups to find out the best solutions for some of the prevalent challenges that Hitachi India listed out in the field of smart agriculture and banking. Startups with DPIIT registration are eligible to apply to this challenge. Winners from each category will receive monetary grants of Rs 30 Lakh. The present article briefs the National Innovation Challenge.
The objective of the National Innovation Challenge
The primary objective of this challenge is to find out the best solution from the Indian startups for some of the prevalent challenges that Hitachi India listed out and is seeking solutions.
Eligibility Criteria
The eligibility criteria to apply for the National Innovation Challenge are as follows:
- The startup should be a DPIIT recognized startup to apply for the National Innovation Challenge.
- Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) ID is also mandatory for applying to the National Innovation Challenge
Eligible Startups
The eligible startups National Innovation Challenge is as follows:
- Ideation Stage Startup
- Validation Stage Startup
- Early Traction Startup
- Scaling Stage Startup
Financial Assistance
Winners from each category will receive monetary grants of Rs 30 Lac under the National Innovation Challenge
Themes for challenges
The following themes have been identified for the submission of problem statements under the National Innovation Challenge.
- Agriculture
- Rural Finance
Problem Statement
Smart Agriculture
Create a Smart Agriculture platform to help rural India with just-in-time agricultural advisories for local farmers and farm-producing organizations (FPO). The deliverables should include the following:
- Understanding of the Problem Statement vis-à-vis the crop production and farmers needs in rural India
- Problem Scope (limit the list of under consideration to maximum 3 crops, even a single crop is fine)
- The rationale behind the crop selection (e.g., importance to the local economy, coverage area, and spread, climatic conditions, crop production uncertainty, the impact of advisories to mitigate the uncertainty, profitability)
- List of advisories that would be generated, specifying the input parameters like soil quality, water, crop, pests, fertilizers, nutrients, warehousing, and weather & eco-system access.
- Stakeholder map and Use Case for consumption of such advisories by key stakeholders
- Solution Architecture Overview along with Smart Technology Interventions (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Internet-of-Things, Drones, Remote Sensing)
- Working Blueprint of the Proposed Solution (e.g., architectural/functional blocks overview)
- Implementation Feasibility & Economic Viability of such a system (e.g., in terms of technology interventions, cost case, architectural overview, timeline, cost-benefit ratio, break-even analysis, entry barrier)
Banking the Unbanked / Reaching the Unreached
Develop a financial service/platform/technology that helps drive financial inclusiveness for the masses in India. It could include any format B2B, B2C, P2P. The deliverables should include the following:
- Understanding of the problem statement vis-à-vis the requirements of the unserved masses in India. The scale of impact of the solution, segment of people impacted.
- The rationale behind the solution selection (benefits in deposit/lending, the difference in risk assessment, alternative exchange/payment mechanism, secured-unsecured credit, collections, alternate data source
- Benefits from the current alternatives
- Validation of the problem statement through – a trial run in any market/ industry expert/ academia/ voice of the customer.
- Innovation (technical, process..) brought to the table
- Ecosystem/ stakeholder map
- Linkage with Govt infrastructure – Aadhar, Jan-Dhan, NPCI, subsidy schemes, etc..
- Regulatory requirements and challenges
- Solution architecture overview along with smart technology Interventions (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Internet-of-Things, Drones, Remote Sensing, Open Data….)
- Working blueprint of the proposed solution (e.g., architectural/functional blocks overview)
- Implementation feasibility & economic viability of such a system (e.g., in terms of technology interventions, cost case, architectural overview, timeline, cost-benefit ratio, break-even analysis, entry barrier)
Relevant Industry
- Analytics
- AR VR (Augmented + Virtual Reality)
- Computer Vision
- Agriculture
- AI
- Finance Technology
- Technology Hardware
- Internet Of Things
- Social Impact
- Robotics
TimeLine of National Innovation Challenge
| Application Deadline | February 22, 2022 |
| Startup selection for the challenge | February 24, 2022 |
| Challenge begins Innovation | February 25, 2022 |
| Innovation Challenge ends | March 15, 2022 |
| Winner declaration and award ceremony | April 4, 2022 |
National Innovation Challenge – Application Procedure
The National Innovation Challenge Applications will be open upto 22nd February 2022. The applicant is required to access the official webpage of Startup India.
- From the home page click on the Programs option and then select View all active programs.
- By clicking on the Challenges from the new page, the list of active Challenges will be displayed. Click on the National Innovation Challenge, the link will redirect to a new page.
- Click on the apply now an option; the Startup India login page will be displayed. The existing users of Startup India can log in to the portal to apply for the program.
- New users need to register on the portal to get the user credential. By clicking on the register now option, the applicant can provide all mandatory details for registration.
- The application form for National Innovation Challenge will be displayed:
Evaluation of startups to be undertaken once applications are closed.
