KOCHI:
Three Kerala-based startups have won the final pitching competition at a four-day event organised by FORGE, an incubation enterprise that merges hardware, software and computing technologies to solve real-world problems.
EyeRov Technologies, Sastra Robotics and Feather Dyn Pvt Ltd are the victors at the recent STARTegies camp in Coimbatore. The first two were incubated at Maker Village under Kerala Startup Mission, the state’s apex organization that supports startups. Intended to provide hardware startups with an in-depth knowledge on mentoring, selling and pitching experience, the main aim of such boot camps by Forge is to help startup founders to learn and apply MVB (minimum viable business) framework to build their innovations into full-fledged business.
EyeRov, India’s first underwater robotic drone developed by EyeRov Technologies, can send real-time video of ships and even underwater carriers to help with their repair and maintenance. It was launched and handed over to the DRDO’s Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory in September.
Sastra makes industrial robotic manipulators aimed at testing car infotainments and mobile-phone touchscreens. The Kochi-based firm was noticed for winning TiE50 Award by TiE Silicon Valley in 2017. Feather Dyn is building a long range UAV ( unmanned aerial vehicle ) for asset monitoring and logistics applications and they currently, aim to provide oil and gas pipeline inspection and marine logistics services.
Initially, 10 startups were shortlisted for the final pitching held on November 23-26. Six of them were Kerala startups.
