Qualcomm Incorporated India and Qualcomm Ventures LLC launched the Qualcomm Women Entrepreneurs India Network (QWEIN) in 2020 to empower women-led startups in the deep tech space in India. The six-month program offers women entrepreneurs opportunities and mentorship to help them unlock the full potential of their businesses. In the first cohort, 14 early-stage women-led startups, representing diverse sectors, including healthcare, IoT, robotics, cleantech, agritech, XR and logistics, graduated from the program. So far, startups who were part of the program have filed six patents and have another 10+ patents in the pipeline.
Srini Maddali, Vice President, Engineering, Qualcomm India says, “Science, deep tech, and engineering have become more relevant today than ever before, as Indians and industries are increasingly embracing technology in this age of digital transformation. India has a huge capacity for innovation – a capacity that can be deepened and strengthened with greater participation from women.”
He adds, “We’re seeing an increasing number of women entrepreneurs come to the fore in recent years, and we hope to see this continue to increase. We launched the QWEIN program to support, mentor and empower women entrepreneurs in the areas of technology, engineering, and mathematics and help them scale their businesses.”
This year 12 startups were selected into the cohort from the applications received.
Finalists of QWEIN 2021
- Anatomech – Founded by Divyakshi Kaushik, it is a wearable technology for human mobility. Its intelligent bodysuits are technology integrated performance enhancers for an overworked human body.
- Droaerody – Founded by Shefali Vinod Ramteke, it is an AI-based crop protection drone for climate-smart agriculture and precision spraying – ‘Krishi PS-1925’.
- DronaMaps – Founded by Ayushi Mishra, it is a command and control centre solution with deep-learning powered insights to make your 3D drone maps meaningful.
- Hydrotec Solutions (Arosia Smart Water) – Founded by Rituparna Das, it is an innovative, sustainable and affordable drinking water solution displaying water quality in real-time.
- iBoson Innovations – Founded by Vineetha A, it aims to democratise augmented reality with a proprietary AR engine and no-code platforms.
- LivNSense Technologies – Founded by Priyanka Kumar, it is redefining the future of AI-led intelligent automation in the manufacturing and production industries.
- Morphing Machines – Founded by Ranjani Narayan, its focus is on innovations around REDEFINE, a future-proof runtime reconfigurable, post-silicon customisable many-core processor.
- Neerx Technovation – Founded by Nikita Tiwari, it is optimising agricultural resource usage and crop growth through satellite and real-time sensor data solutions.
- Nife Labs – Founded by Nida Sahar Rafee, it is an enterprise application deployment and orchestration platform provider that is transforming how users experience the internet.
- TekUncorked LVIoT – Founded by Meenakshi Vashist, it builds, deploys and manages enterprise-ready IoT platforms, ensuring reliable outage-free electricity for all.
- TeraLumen Solutions – Founded by Dr Jyotirmayee Dash, it is India’s first Terahertz company working on the development of the first intraoperative diagnostic device for cancer margin detection.
- Zealth AI – Founded by Monika Mehta, it is building digital therapeutics enabling real-time management of conditions like cancer in the easiest and fastest way possible.
At Qualcomm, the team is always looking to develop and support technology that has a deep-reaching impact on the lives of people around the world. Rajen Vagadia, Vice President & President, Qualcomm India says, “Over the last year, QWEIN has increased the visibility for these women-led startups and helped them get grants from governments and top universities. They’ve also benefited from the mentoring and advice offered by Qualcomm executives who are associated with this program.”
He adds, “I strongly believe that startups have immense potential to benefit society through the solutions they develop, the jobs they create, and their contribution to the national GDP – a contribution which continues to grow with every passing year.”
The 12 finalists will get access to various Qualcomm technologies, mentorship with Qualcomm senior leaders, expert masterclasses, networking and personal development sessions, investment opportunities, among other benefits.
