Top 10 Indian Startups to watch out for in 2017
Undoubtedly, the year 2016 was full of Ups and Downs for Starups in India. While many Startups had a difficult year owing to sluggish economic growth, many cashed in the opportunity presented to them by the ongoing digital revolution; especially after the launch of Startup India initiative and Digital India programme.
A country where hundreds of Startups are launched on a monthly basis throughout the year, preparing a “top 10 list” is indeed a difficult task. Therefore, while finalizing the list for ‘Top 10 Indian Startups to watch out for in 2017‘, we decided to stick with a central theme –‘Startups which can bring positive social change’. Though financially, many Startups might have stronger prospects, the potential to bring social transformation is what has been considered in finalizing this list.
“Innoflaps is a startup which provide devices for speech, language & tinnitus problems to help the millions of people/children who are suffering from problem of stammering, delay speech & language . Experienced team of SLPs and engineers developed home based speech devices. Prior to this, team has several years of clinical experience in speech therapy. In short, they are researchers in the field of speech complexities and manufacturer of speech products.”
Leaf Wearables is an Indian start-up launched by the students of IIT Delhi and Delhi Technological University. They were chosen amongst the top 10 innovative startups in India by Department of Science and Technology who accompanied Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his visit to Silicon Valley to participate in first India-U.S. Startup Konnect. Their product, now known as SAFER is a smart safety device, which can be used to trigger alarm and send signals to pre-identified phone numbers in case of emergency. SAFER works on Bluetooth low energy and thus works in coordination with the “SAFER by Leaf” app on the user’s smartphone. The device can be used as smart jewellery in the form of a necklace. In a country where women safety is one of the most alarming issues, this Startup has the potential of tackling this issue; with style.
Goldfarm is “India’s Emerging Agri Platform, empowering Farmers lives through one point solution platforms for all farming needs.”
Through their platform farmers can access products and services that they will need for agriculture. “Their aim is to deliver convenience, affordability and reliability through a simplified delivery network. Their idea is to be a mobile first service which will be supported by cloud infrastructure and IOT and agriculture specific predictive algorithms.”
More than 48% of Indian population is still dependent on agriculture. What hurts farmers the most is the maze of services available in the market and the clsutered approach involved in delivering these services. Lack of education compounds the problem in India. A one stop solution to farmers will ensure better farm productivity and more revenue, thus empowering the farmers of our country.
“Social Cops’ mission is to confront the world’s most critical problems through data.” Their platform plays a role in driving healthcare policy, building smarter cities, and improving education outcomes.
According to Social Cops, In the two years of their existence, their “technology and platform have been used to tackle maternal mortality, pinpoint the status of primary education in 1.4 million schools in India, & allocate city budgets.”
“Achira’s cutting-edge microfluidics technology empowers patients and doctors with convenient and timely access to accurate medical testing”.
Achira Labs is developing a proprietary lab-on-chip platform to perform rapid, quantitative and multiplexed immunoassays (protein tests) at a low cost. The company believes that their innovation will change the way how health care and diagnostics are carried in the present times. With the existing diagnostic testing, there are several problems associated. They are expensive and slow and the for patients it nothing less than an ordeal. Achira Labs seek to alleviate the pain of both doctors and patients by bringing tests closer to the point of diagnosis which will ultimately lead to a personalized healthcare environment.
Zenatix provides an energy analytics product that helps managers of commercial buildings save at least 10% energy using intelligence from the energy data. The startup’s product is a combination of hardware and software. The hardware includes sensors which connect to Zenatix controller, which is used for both data acquisition and automated control of electrical loads.
Their vision is to “deliver analytics driven energy efficiency with an aim of building a sustainable planet.”
According to Zenatix, “the per capita energy consumption across the world is increasing at an alarming rate, and the energy generation is not keeping pace with it. While the countries around the world are adding electricity generation capacities with a combination of (largely) non-renewable and renewable resources, it is equally important to drive efficiency on the consumption side. Zenatix’ IoT based products deliver energy efficiency to a range of electricity customers.”
If India wishes to achieve the targets set in its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions(INDCs) of Paris climate change agreement, in addition to moving towards non-fossil fuel based energy sources, huge steps need to be taken in maming our existing systems energy efficient.
“Forus Health‘s 3nethra is a technology innovation which helps in screening of common eye problems which can lead to blindness. It is simple, portable and can be operated by a minimally trained technician.”
Forus Health’s mission is to eradicate preventable blindness and make screening for common eye problems affordable and accessible. Forus, through its technology and business innovations, has been able touch the lives of over 2 million people across the globe and continues its large scale impact on preventable blindness.
Navya Network, an online platform for cancer patients and their families that provides consultations with leading oncologists from Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) for a nominal fee.
Navya was launched in 2015 runs as a service to empower cancer patients by relying on evidence and experience of the system as well as the expertise of global expert oncologists. Navya relies on clinical data to zero in on the exact treatment to patients so that they can cut down on wasteful trips to hospitals. Cancer treatment involves huge expenditure. Especially in India where the insurance cover is in single digit, this can significantly reduce out of pocket expenditure.
“Mera Gao Power builds, owns, and operates micro grids in Uttar Pradesh, India serving off-grid villages with high quality, dependable lighting and mobile phone charging services. MGP’s unique model is able to provide service to a typical hamlet for less than $1,000, making its lowest cost design the first commercially viable micro grid targeted at the rural poor.”
Founded by Nikhil Jaisinghani and Brian Shaad, Mera Gao Power solves the problem of electricity by providing night-time lighting as well as mobile phone charging to poor households.
Education is considered as the panacea for most of the ills in the society. But, education without quality is tantamount to no education at all. According to the latest ASER report(published by PRATHAM), around 42% of class 5 students are unable to perform a class 2 division. Education empowers a person to tackle most of the challenges head on. Byju classes founded by Byju Raveendran has been engaged in providing quality education via vivid illustrations and state of art teaching methodologies thereby improving learning outcomes. Byju provides learning programmes for class VI to XII students and preparation programmes for competitive examinations such as JEE, CAT, IAS, GRE and GMAT, among others.
Byju’s recently raised $50 million from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Do you have a different list in your mind? Feel free to share it with us @ hello@timesofstartups.com
