Agro Zee and AgroPiper win the innovate for life challenge

325 startups from 113 cities across 24 states participated in the challenge

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Marathwada Accelerator for Growth and Incubation Council (MAGIC) organized a national innovation challenge, the ‘Innovate for Life Challenge 2023’ (IFLC23), to encourage entrepreneurs to transform their innovative ideas into commercially viable ventures. The competition received a huge response from India, with 325 startups from 113 cities across 24 states participating.

The final round of the competition was held on September 30, with 16 startups each from the pre-revenue and revenue groups selected to present their concepts and products.

Senior entrepreneur Ninad Karpe, founder of 100x VC, gave in-depth guidance on how startups should pitch for funding, what important aspects to consider while developing their product, and how to scale a startup product.

During the event, a seminar on Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam emphasized the need for collaboration between academia, industry, and organizations. The total value of the award to the winners of this competition is Rs 6 lakh along with incubation and other support at the Magic Institute.

Tournament winning teams:

Revenue category:

First prize: Agro Zee, Pune (extends the shelf life of AB millet from 15 days to 6 months).

Second prize: Infinity X Innovation, Bangalore (Hybrid of EV charging and swapping stations that can charge any EV from 0 to 100 percent in seconds).

Third prize: UNG Technology, Kharagpur (Biomimics the natural eddy formation of water to generate hydroelectric power).

Pre-revenue (Prototype) category:

First prize: AgroPiper, Mumbai (Technology to evaluate fruit and vegetable quality and predict product shelf-life with AI).

Second prize: Take Me Go, Anantnag (Clipper used to connect and balance multiple tree branches at once).

Third prize: Sooth Earth, Jalgaon (Manufactures paper from banana peels).

Special awards:

Promising women startup: Aruhil Solutions, Jalgaon (Maternity pads and sanitary napkins using waste banana stem pulp as the main material).

Rural startup: Arbor Nature Private Limited, (Bhubaneswar) Odisha (Green Straw, an alternative to plastic and paper straws and 100 percent biodegradable).