Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has announced three upcoming firms as the winners of its Climathon awards, honouring their ideas and models that promote environmental conservation.
The November 26-27 event, which KSUM conducted in association with EY Global Delivery Services, awarded prize money totalling ₹30 lakh to 11 startups. The three top winners got ₹5 lakh each, followed by seven others with ₹2 lakh each. One company received a special jury mention award of ₹1 lakh.
Treetag won the top prize for its web-based platform that features a wide variety of user profiles and sub-profiles enabling easy handling of afforestation projects. Designed to track and update the health of trees regularly, the platform provides technological support to utilise land for afforestation by enabling tree-mapping manually as well as using drones and satellites.
Zewa Ecosystems was the second top winner for its hybrid IoT-based waste management system that converts biodegradable waste into livestock feed using maggots. Vatsaa Energy was the third top winner for its integrated solar roof derived from bamboo.
The runners-up included Speranza Plasti Crafts, which makes toys, tiles and bricks from recycled plastics; Fuselage Innovations, which instantly processes images collected using multispectral unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to prepare maps; Teqard Labs for its ufarms.io, which develops smart farming solutions focused on people and sustainability using IoT, automation, AI and agri-fintech; Qudrat, which deals with disposable tableware made from paddy-crop residue; X BOSON for AI-based aeroponics indoor vegetable garden; VIR Naturals for biodegradable tableware from agricultural waste (such as rice/wheat bran); and Lares.ai for its AI forecasting platform driven by ‘multi-analytica’.
MYCROWB Your Eco Friend LLP won the special jury mention award for its process to convert waste hair into plant growth-enhancer, besides extracting melanin.
The two-day Climathon saw 22 experts leading discussions on all but one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN.