As part of its initiative in supporting ideas that can help drive the adoption of electric vehicles across the country, Uber announced the winners of the Green Mobility Innovation Challenge on Monday.
The five winners of the competition run in partnership with Startup India, the government's online support portal for entrepreneurs and startup incubator iCreate, include Bodycast Innovators, Virya Batteries, Racenergy, Kazam EV Tech and Emuron Technologies.
The Challenge attracted more than 150 entries from innovators and startups from across the country. The winners will receive a grant of INR 75 lakh from Uber to develop their ideas, along with six months of business incubation at iCreate. The Runners-up shall also be eligible to receive two months of incubation, mentorship support by Uber's leaders, access to labs and co-working spaces at iCreate, the company said.
The competition focused on innovations in two and three-wheelers, the accessibility of charging stations and their ease of use, and potential partnership or financial models that can improve EV uptake in India. Uber is supporting innovations to enable the EV ecosystem with two broad themes. Firstly, to help domestic auto manufacturers get their EV products to the market, especially two-wheelers and three-wheelers and product innovation to improve battery life and address range anxiety. Secondly, propagating partnership models for enhancing uptake of EVs in transportation and shared mobility.
The five-member Grand Jury for the final round comprised industry experts Mahua Acharya, CEO, CESL; Prof Anadi Saran Pande, Head of Enterprise Incubation Centre, IIM-Lucknow; Anupam Jalote, CEO, iCreate; Nandini Maheshwari, Senior Director & Head of Asia Pacific Business Development, Uber and Venkatesh Kancharla, Director, Engineering, Uber.
Delivering the keynote address, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, said, “Organisations which are green will prosper and progress in future. It is important for everyone to reduce their carbon footprint, and that is what Uber is doing by promoting startups in the EV space. I would like to congratulate the winners and wish them success in the future.”
Prabhjeet Singh, President, Uber India South Asia, said Uber has a target to ensure 100% of its rides globally on zero-emission vehicles or through micro-mobility and public transit by 2040. 'Hitting that goal in India won’t be easy, but we are determined to get there in partnership with the many brilliant Indian startups already working in the EV space and the government. We believe it's still very early, and various technologies have to be supported. That is why we are working with various OEMs, battery and charging infra players, across two, three and four wheeled products. Through the Challenge, we are going even closer to the hub of innovations and we'll look forward to leveraging our fast growing and nationwide platform to bring them to scale.“
Anupam Jalote, CEO, iCreate, said, 'With electric vehicles as a key focus area for iCreate, our vision is to address key challenges in the EV industry in India, using the power of innovation. I was heartened to see the participants here demonstrate a radical and creative approach to problem statements and I am confident that their ideas will convert into meaningful solutions for the EV industry during their incubation period at iCreate.'