Leading company in computational science and artificial intelligence (AI), Altair, has partnered with Startup India, an Indian government initiative whose goal is to create a robust, inclusive ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship in India, to announce the winners of its one-year Altair Startup Challenge 2022 (ASC2022).
With an emphasis on developing next-generation aerospace and military systems, the ASC2022 gave participating businesses access to cutting-edge technology, mentorship, and professional support in their pursuit of creating ground-breaking solutions.
Startups had to identify Altair technologies for the ASC2022 that would guide the engineering and design of robots, drones, wearables, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), and satellite systems.
Out of 74 applications, 11 firms made the short list; Altair gave these entrepreneurs free access to Altair technologies and coaching for over six months. The best use of Altair technology that improved the designs and possible commercial effect of the goods were used to decide the winners.
Of the shortlisted 11 finalists – Hyperspawn, Quarkifi, Truspectra India, Tryambh Innovations, Aero-insights, Nautical Wings, Sapeint Aerospace, Coratia Technologies, CTTD Epeace, Infinity Arsenal, and Aerogravity – seven of them presented their ideas, designs, and commercial plans on October 5, 2023, to a panel of judges chosen from DRDO, ISRO, and commercial organisations.
The following four organizations were declared winners:
Platinum Winner: Aerogravity creates drone port systems to enable industrial drones for autonomous takeoff and landing in order to carry out tasks including payload transportation, surveying, and surveillance.
Gold Winners: Hyperspawn, a robotics business that creates teleoperated humanoid robots that function as users' physical avatars anywhere in the world, was the inaugural winner of this category.
Bronze Winner: Quarkifi, a company that uses Internet of Things (IoT) technology to automate smart spaces and has a patent for their creative approach.
Supporting startups is a way to encourage novel ideas and solutions that can benefit countless industries around the globe. We want to encourage startups that drive the creation of intellectual property in India, startups that create great technologies, and accelerate economic growth,” said Vishwanath Rao, Managing Director, Altair India And GCC Countries.
“Brilliant young minds are breaking barriers developing products that will revolutionize their industry. The quality of representation in the ASC2022 has been extraordinary and raises the bar for those to follow”, said Panduranga Rao, Senior Vice President Of Technical Operations And Strategic Initiatives, Altair India.
“Altair mentors promptly guided us, and we were given the resources to work on and refine our solutions. We thank all the mentors who worked tirelessly with the startups to make this program a launchpad for many sectors,” said Anirban Bhattacharya, Director, Quarkify.
Shankar Venugopal, Vice President At M&M and one of the mentors at the ASC2022, mentioned at the occasion, “Altair plays a very critical role in supporting the start-ups to undertake the proof of concept by providing them with software and technical expertise across product development stages to bring their ideas to life.”
Since 2019, Altair and Startup India have been organizing this competition, to which more than 500 firms have applied.