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Top10 startups of Green Mobility Innovation Challenge with Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog_ Pradeep Parameswaran, Mobility - Asia Pacific, Uber_ and Prabhjeet Singh, President, Uber India South Asia

• Winners to receive grants of INR 7.5 Million and support from iCreate

• Runners-up eligible to receive incubation and mentorship from Uber and iCreate

Uber today announced the five winners of the Green Mobility Innovation Challenge, its partnership with the Government, in support of ideas to help drive the adoption of electric vehicles across the country. The winning startups are, Bodycast Innovators Pvt. Ltd. Virya Batteries Pvt. Ltd., Racenergy, Kazam EV Tech Pvt. Ltd. and Emuron Technologies.

Run in partnership with Startup India, the Indian government’s online support portal for entrepreneurs and startup incubator iCreate, the challenge attracted more than 150 entries from innovators and startups from across the country.

Winners of Green Mobility Innovation Challenge with Pradeep Parameswaran, Mobility, Asia Pacific, Uber and Prabhjeet Singh, President, Uber India South Asia.

The winners will receive a grant of INR 7.5 Million from Uber to develop their ideas, along with six months business incubation at iCreate. The Runners-up shall also be eligible to receive two months of incubation, mentorship support by Uber’s leaders, access to labs, and co-working spaces at iCreate.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, delivered the keynote address at the event and Shruti Singh, Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, delivered context setting remarks.

The five member Grand Jury for the final round comprised industry experts Mahua Acharya, CEO, CESL; Prof. Anadi Saran Pande, Head of Enterprise Incubation Centre, IIM-Lucknow; Anupam Jalote, CEO, iCreate; Nandini Maheshwari, Senior Director & Head of Asia Pacific Business Development, Uber; and Venkatesh Kancharla, Director, Engineering, Uber.

Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog said, “Organizations which are green will prosper and progress in future. It is important for everyone to reduce their carbon footprint, and that is what Uber is doing by promoting startups in the EV space. I would like to congratulate the winners and wish them success in the future”

Commenting on the Challenge, Prabhjeet Singh, President, Uber India South Asia, said, “As the world’s leading mobility platform, Uber has a bold 2040 target to ensure 100% of its rides globally on zero-emission vehicles or through micro mobility and public transit. Hitting that goal in India won’t be easy, but we are determined to get there in partnership with the many brilliant Indian startups already working in the EV space and the government. We believe it's still very early and various technologies have to be supported. That is why we are working with various OEMs, battery and charging infra players, across two, three and four wheeled products. Through the Challenge, we are going even closer to the hub of innovations and we'll look forward to leveraging our fast growing and nationwide platform to bring them to scale.“

Anupam Jalote, CEO, iCreate said, "We are proud to be the incubation partner for Uber’s Green Mobility Innovation Challenge and we look forward to welcoming the winners to our campus. With electric vehicles as a key focus area for iCreate, our vision is to address key challenges in the EV industry in India, using the power of innovation. I was heartened to see the participants here demonstrate a radical and creative approach to problem statements and I am confident that their ideas will convert into meaningful solutions for the EV industry during their incubation period at iCreate"

The Uber Green Mobility Innovation Challenge focused on innovations in two and three-wheelers, the accessibility of charging stations and their ease of use, as well as potential partnership or financial models that can improve EV uptake in India. Uber is supporting innovations to enable the EV ecosystem with two broad themes.

•        Helping domestic auto manufacturers get their EV products to the market, especially two-wheelers and three-wheelers. Product innovation to improve battery life and address ‘range anxiety’.

•        Partnership models for improving uptake of EVs in transportation and shared mobility.

About Uber:

Uber’s mission is to reimagine the way the world moves for the better. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get access to a ride at the touch of a button? More than 10 billion trips later, we're building products to get people closer to where they want to be. By changing how people, food, and things move through cities, Uber is a platform that opens up the world to new possibilities.

About Startup India:

Startup India is a flagship initiative of the Government of India, intended to build a strong ecosystem that is conducive for the growth of startup businesses, to drive sustainable economic growth, and generate large-scale employment opportunities. The Startup India Action Plan was launched in January 2016 by the Hon'ble Prime Minister and is housed as an initiative under Invest India.

About iCreate:

iCreate (International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology) is an autonomous centre of excellence of the Government of Gujarat and is India's largest institution for transforming startups based on tech innovation into successful businesses. Embedded systems and IoT are a focus area for iCreate, in domains like electric vehicles, agritech, smart cities, healthtech, industrial automation, renewable energy, among others. It is home to Cisco’s largest Innovation Lab in India and has partnerships with leading institutions in the US, Israel, and other countries.