Uber announces 5 winners of green mobility innovation challenge

Uber on Monday announced the five winners of the Green Mobility Innovation Challenge in support of ideas to help drive the adoption of electric vehicles across the country. The winning start-ups 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 government's online support portal for entrepreneurs and start-up incubator iCreate, the challenge attracted more than 150 entries from innovators and start-ups from across the country.

''The winners will receive a grant of Rs 75 lakh 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,'' according to a statement.

Speaking at the occasion, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said organisations that are green will prosper and progress in future, and clean mobility will be a key driver of growth ''Companies which are digital which are green will be the ones which will grow and progress in future. Companies, which are green...will prosper in future. They will attract capital, they will attract valuations,'' he said.

Prabhjeet Singh, president of Uber India South Asia, said that as the world's leading mobility platform, Uber has a bold 2040 target to ensure 100 per cent 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 start-ups already working in the EV space and the government. We believe it's still very early and various technologies have to be supported,'' he said.

Anupam Jalote, chief executive officer of iCreate, said electric vehicles is a key focus area for iCreate ''... our vision is to address key challenges in the EV industry in India, using the power of innovation,'' Jalote said. 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. The five member jury for the final round comprised industry experts Mahua Acharya, CEO of CESL; Anadi Saran Pande, head of Enterprise Incubation Centre, IIM-Lucknow; Anupam Jalote, CEO of iCreate; Nandini Maheshwari, senior director and head of Asia-Pacific Business Development, Uber; and Venkatesh Kancharla, director (engineering) at Uber.

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