Summary
Aspiring candidates can participate in this challenge and get a chance to win a cash prize worth Rs 5 lakh and Rs 50 lakh worth of funding opportunity
The last date to apply for this competition is November 25, 2021
The Technology Business Incubator of Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Himachal Pradesh is hosting the fifth edition of its Annual Flagship Event, Himalayan Startup Trek (HST) on December 11 and December 12, 2021. HST 2021 will also host the ‘HST Startup Grand Challenge’, their startup pitch competition.
The three themes for the year are:
- The New Age Alliance: Human-Computer Interaction.
- The Foothill Innovators Challenge: Build for the Himalayas.
- The Habitable World Challenge: Environment and sustainability.
The startup grand challenge focuses on bringing together the stakeholders of the Indian Startup ecosystem and providing a platform to young entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas for incubation support and to raise funding from investors.
According to Puran Singh, faculty-in-charge, IIT Mandi Catalyst, HST has been the gateway to Catalyst’s incubation program for startups from across the country. The thematic startup grand challenge this year is the latest feature in HST.
The New Age Alliance will focus on the usage of computer’s intelligence and computation capabilities in decision making, prediction, estimation, communication, and processing.
Under this theme, candidates can pitch in their ideas related to brain-computer interaction, assistive technologies to aid and enhance human functioning and decision-making, use of advanced technologies to enhance the cognitive abilities of humans, and use of computer’s intelligence to aid human decision making, prediction, communication, and processing.
The Foothill Innovators Challenge will focus on the issues relevant to the local terrain, population, environment, ecology, or focus on taking local products and offerings to the world by building supply chains, storage, or building capacity at different value chain levels.
Aspiring entrepreneurs can participate under this theme with their ideas related to hill road safety, disaster prevention, and management, demand and supply-side challenges to Himalayan agriculture, vocal for local - interventions to scale local products and services, and rural development - education, skill training, and employment.
The Habitable World Challenge aims to enable startups and innovators who strive to make the world a more livable and habitable place for all species. Problem statements of interest under this theme include clean and renewable energy, waste management, e-vehicles, green solutions, recycling, and natural resource management. Climate change and natural resource management. Candidates can pitch in their ideas related to renewable and clean energy solutions, waste management and recycling and any other solution in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Each thematic area has a cash prize worth Rs 2 lakh, which will be distributed to the top three startups.
Top startups will also be provided with incubation support and funding access for prototyping as well product development through various funding schemes hosted by Catalyst and provide up to Rs 50 lakh of funding.
The event is supported by HP Center for Entrepreneurship Development of HP Industries Department. Applications can be filled on the event website.
The last date to apply for this competition is on November 25, 2021.
Last updated on 17 Nov 2021
