SEVERAL AUTOMOTIVE COMPANIES ARE PRODUCTS, AND SOURCING COMPONENTS, TECHNOLOGIES FROM OUR STARTUPS

After hosting two successful editions, iCreate (International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology), India's leading tech-innovation-based startup incubator recently concluded the third edition of India's largest EV innovation challenge - Evangelise '23. Avinash Punekar, CEO of iCreate discusses the mostanticipated EV challenge and how this platform assists startups and innovators in showcasing their innovations in a candid conversation with Nisha Shukla.

- Nisha Shukla

Tell us about EVangelise ’23 challenge? What sets this innovation challenge apart from others?

EVangelise’23 is not just about identifying groundbreaking innovations in EV technology across India. It’s also aimed at connecting the startups and innovators with industry partners, providing incubation support, and facilitating access to capital.

The core objective of EVangelise ’23 is to support India’s vision for electric mobility, by harnessing the power of innovation to accelerate EV adoption in the country, and help India become a global EV hub. EVangelise also aims to identify and solve challenges at the EV sub-component level, thereby accelerating the transition towards developing energy-efficient and sustainable mobility nationwide. It’s also aligned with the ‘Make in India’ initiative, which focuses on 100 per cent local EV production.

We had invited innovations from across various stages of development under three key EV technology themes - Traction, Energy, and Telematics, Intelligence & Connectivity (TIC). This year, the challenge aimed at elevating its impact by expanding the scope to encompass various classes of vehicles including cars, heavy vehicles, earthmovers involved in mining operations, and zero-emission trucks.

The startups and innovators were adjudicated across two categories, i.e. idea stage and scale-up stage. In the first category, startups at the ideation stage (TRL 4 and below) had the opportunity to present their concepts and potentially form strategic partnerships with industrial partners. Meanwhile, in the second category, startups at the scale-up stage (TRL 5 and above) were given the opportunity to connect with venture capital firms to secure the necessary funding for their growth and expansion.