Winners of COVID-19 Shri Shakti Challenge | Fusion - WeRIndia

To encourage women entrepreneurs and women-led startups, Government of India launched the COVID-19 Shri Shakti Challenge in association with UN Women.

The initiative was launched in April 2020 to promote innovative solutions that fight against COVID-19 or impact women in society. Six women-led startups have won the Challenge.

This innovation challenge has two stages: Ideation stage and Proof of Concept (PoC) Stage.

The Challenge received 1,265 entries from various places in the country. Among them, 25 startups were shortlisted to present their solutions to the Jury.

11 finalists were selected for the next round after a thorough review. These startups were provided with ₹75,000 each to develop their ideas.

Besides, six startups were chosen for the reward. Among them, top 3 winners were provided with prize money of ₹5 lakhs each. The remaining three startups were rewarded with ₹2 lakhs each for their promising solutions.

Here are the details about the top 3 winners:

Dr P Gayatri Hela developed non-alcoholic hand sanitizer. She is the founder and director of Reseda Lifesciences Private Limited. The startup designs products with plant extracts.

Romita Ghosh is a cancer survivor. She is the founder of iHeal HealthTech Private Limited. The startup developed RoAR Steriliser, a UVC cabinet to sterilize PPE kits and other disposable products to be reused.

Dr Anjana Ramkumar and Dr Anushka Ashokan are the co-founders of Thanmatra Innovations Private Limited. They designed an anti-microbial solution. When this solution is sprayed into cloths like handkerchiefs, they can be used as facemasks. The solution has a unique fabric-binding formulation to form an anti-viral and anti-bacterial coating on the cloth.

Following three startups have promising solutions:

Vasanthi Palanivel is the co-founder of Seragen BioTherapeutics Private Limited. As COVID-19 majorly impacts the lungs, she developed a plasma solution to treat respiratory problems.

Shivi Kapil, the co-founder Empathy Design Labs, designed a wearable device for pregnant women. This IoT-embedded product regularly monitors pregnant women and alerts them with suitable suggestions.

Jaya Parashar and Ankita Parashar are the co-founders of STREAM Minds, an ed-tech company. This mother and daughter duo designed ‘Dobot’, a fully automated robot, to work as an in-house delivery assistant.

Image Credit: Mygov.in

Image Reference: https://www.mygov.in/hi/task/mygov-covid-19-shri-shakti-challenge/