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 22^nd 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:

National Innovation Challenge Evaluation of startups to be undertaken once applications are closed.