Chennai-based IoT venture wins Wharton India Economic Forum’s start-up contest

Chennai-based Internet of Things venture Detect Technologies has won the best start-up award at the Fourth Wharton India Start-up Competition, which is organised by Wharton India Economic Forum.

IIT-Madras-incubated Detect Technologies is into design and manufacture of perimeter-intrusion detection systems that can predict and detect oil and gas leakages.

Real-time montoring

The firm boasts of owning the first real-time pipe-monitoring system in the world. The company was awarded $12,000 in cash at an event in Mumbai.

In-game advertising platform GreedyGame and agriculture analytics firm CropIn Technology Solutions were among other top winners.

The session saw emerging start-ups competing against each other for prize money and mentorship to grow their businesses. Competition entries were screened by a panel of experts comprising entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and investors.

With more than 450 entries, 10 finalists were asked to present their case. A speaker series on entrepreneurship followed.

Terming the Indian market “value driven”, Rohan Mirchandani, co-founder, Drums Food International (known for Hokey Pokey brand of ice creams), said it is important to get into the customers’ mind and understand whether the product is worth paying for, and whether it could be made at home — all of which goes together to decide the value and positioning of the product in the market.

Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group, and Arundhati Bhattacharya, Chairman, State Bank of India, were also present on the occasion, providing insights from their respective fields, and speaking on the need to build a sustainable and effective organisation through innovation.

Adapting to change

Speakers mentioned the need to be adaptive to change and to have a sustained focus on innovation, which they termed as the key ingredient for success.