iCreate announces winners of EV Innovation Challenge - EVangelise'21

The International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate) on Monday announced the winners of EVangelise'21 -- iCreate's unique electric vehicle innovation challenge which began in July 2021. Of the 10 shortlisted pitches, the top three spots at the EVangelise'21 competition were won by Bhopal-based Clean Electric Private Limited - for their innovative fast-charging EV batteries, Gremot Mobility Private Limited - for their innovation on energy recovery capabilities for EV motors, and Webber Electrocorp Private Limited - for their indigenously designed battery management systems and motor controllers. 

The eminent jury who evaluated the finalists at the innovation challenge included Thyagrajan K, Founding Team member, iCreate; Anupam Jalote, CEO, iCreate; Tarun Mehta, Co-founder & CEO, Ather Energy, Stefan Louis, CEO, Nexcharge, Kanwar Jit (KJ) Singh, CTO, Tejas Networks; Kiran Deshmukh, CTO, Sona Comstar; Kartikey Hariyani, Founder and CEO, TecSo CHARGE+ZONE, and Mayur Shah, Head of Business Development - India, Beyond Next Ventures.  

"iCreate has now established itself as the place to be for EV innovators and start-ups," said Anupam Jalote, CEO of iCreate, congratulating the winners of the competition. "They [winners] will surely accelerate iCreate's drive in helping India become a knowledge exporter and a superpower in the small EV space... we look forward to working with them to help take their ideas into the market for further commercialization."

The top three winners will take home an award grant of INR 10 lakh, INR 7.5 lakh, and INR 5 lakh respectively along with incubation support of INR 50 lakh each, and access to iCreate's facilities, market connects, and industry mentorship. 

The 7-month innovation challenge was organized by iCreate aimed at identifying and nurturing some of the brightest minds in the country to use the power of innovation in addressing key problems facing the electric vehicle industry at the component level. 

iCreate received nearly 400 applications in a competition that included several stages of filtering through boot-camps and workshops from a range of participants which included startups, college students, research institutions, independent innovators, and EV enthusiasts, who shared breakthrough innovations in sub-components used in 2W & 3W electric vehicles. 

The innovation challenge covered four sub-component levels of an electric vehicle - Electric Powertrain (motor + controller), Battery, BMS, and Hybrid Energy Storage Systems, Regenerative Braking Systems, and Intelligent Vehicle Management Systems.

iCreate is India's leading institution for transforming start-ups based on tech innovation into successful businesses. It is supported by the Govt. of Gujarat and the Govt. of India and is located on a 40-acre campus in Ahmedabad. To date, it has supported over 389 innovations and 30+ patents with a 'high-touch, entrepreneur first model, connecting them with mentors, markets, and money.