Gadget Bridge- 19th June 2019
WhatsApp and Invest India have today announced the winners of the ‘Startup India – WhatsApp Grand Challenge’. The companies have announced that five startups have been awarded a total grant worth $250,000 or approximately Rs 35 Lakhs each. The five startups that have received the prize money include MedCords, Melzo, Javis, Gramophone, and MinionLabs. For those unaware, the ‘Startup India – WhatsApp Grand Challenge’ was started earlier this year and it was meant to inspire entrepreneurs to develop solutions that have a socio-economic impact on the Indian economy. More than 1,700 entries were received for the challenge from across the country. It is also worth mentioning that around 70% of the applications received were from startups that were less than 3 months old. This shows how more and more people are switching to do business in the country. These entries were then evaluated on the basis of their innovative thinking, the scale of impact, and ability of solving real problems that are faced by the people of the country. Ten entries were then shortlisted and were given a chance to pitch ideas to a mix of venture capitalists and entrepreneur including Shailesh Lakhani of Sequoia Capital, Vani Kola of Kalaari Capital, Deep Kalra of MakeMyTrip, Harsha Kumar of Lightspeed Ventures, and Abhijit Bose of WhatsApp.
For more information on this press article, visit https://www.gadgetbridge.com/news/whatsapp-and-startup-india-announce-winners-of-their-grand-challenge/
MinionLabs is the World Leader in Energy Efficiency for Cities, Businesses, and Consumers for the Internet of Things. Our Artificial Intelligence-based products, systems, and services enable our users to be energy efficient, reduce carbon footprint, prevent climate change and make people’s lives safer and comfortable, and businesses more productive and cities more livable in a sustainable way. Visit us at www.minionlabs.tech