T-Hub, AWS selects 10 Startups for Drone-tech accelerator programme

• ByStartupStory     |    February 7, 2023

T-Hub announced the ten businesses for the AWS-Intel Innovation Pod for Drone-tech Accelerator programme on Monday, India’s first-ever drone-tech accelerator programme. T-Hub and Telangana State Innovation Cell (TSIC) organised the accelerator programme, which got over 300 applications from entrepreneurs focused on drone technology from throughout India, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. 

The accelerator programme launched in July 2022, providing entrepreneurs with the resources and expertise needed to boost drone technology adoption in India. The program’s goal is to handle particular use cases such as 360-degree aerial surveys, live recording feed, and geospatial analysis in industries such as defence, space, national security, healthcare, public safety, transportation, transit, citizen participation, and agriculture, among others.

 T-Hub selected ten drone-tech businesses for this initiative, including 10 Infinite, Akin Analytics, Daybest Research, Drogo Drones, Indrones, Oplus Innovation, Senseacre Labs, Vecros Technologies, Vyomik Drones, and Yaralava Technologies.

MSR (Mahankali Srinivas Rao), CEO of T-Hub, said, “The rise of drone tech startups has increased in India over the last three years, and we believe that if entrepreneurs passionate about drone tech are supported now, India can take the leading position in this space in the future. T-Hub has helped equip entrepreneurs to create new jobs, market their products and solutions, and generate funding. Through the AWS-Intel Innovation Pod for drone acceleration, we will stay focused on supporting startups in the drone tech space with multiple elements like product design leveraging technical and subject matter advisory from AWS, go-to-market strategies and investment pitches. 

Dr. Shanta Thoutam, Chief Innovation Officer to Government of Telangana, said, “The AWS-Intel Drone Tech Innovation Pod stands as a testimony to the community that is truly inclusive in supporting startups from various sectors. TSIC is related to collaborating with T-Hub to enable connections across government departments   for cohort startups to work on public sector challenges. We also successfully facilitated more than 10 startup-government interactions resulting in two pilot procurement orders to date, and will continue to support and connect more startups with relevant government departments. We believe that when government departments and startups work together to address a problem, the impact on society can be multiplied.”

Deepti Dutt, Head of Strategic Initiatives – Public Sector at AWS India and South Asia, said, “We are delighted to support the Telangana government with the AWS-Intel Drone Tech Innovation Pod to nurture India’s startups that are solving public sector issues across the subcontinent using drone technology. Our program AWS Startup Ramp supports startups through better adoption of AWS technologies, cloud credits, mentorship and customer outreach to rapidly innovate and scale. We are happy to help India’s drone startups accelerate and achieve impactful outcomes in this emerging field.”

The selected firms were offered a variety of possibilities, including the opportunity to propose to numerous programme partners for paid or unpaid pilots across a variety of use cases such as improved surveillance, crop health management, and parking management. Furthermore, the entrepreneurs were mentored and trained in product design creation, sales conversion, branding, pitch refining, and financial modeling. The selected firms were also granted immediate access to the AWS Startup Ramp Program and AWS Promotional Credits to use in order to gain access to AWS technologies and services. 

The five-month accelerator programme also offered companies with workspace, value partner assistance throughout the ideation phase, and grassroot level stakeholder engagements to develop their inventions with the help of a complete curriculum, expert coaching, and market scaling prospects.

The entrepreneurs were also given the option to co-create proof of concepts (POCs) for state and municipal governments, allowing them to discover new applications for their goods and drone solutions. 

Certified industry mentors assisted startups, including Manoj Badagharwala, Founder of Badagharwala Technologies Pvt Ltd; Vijetha Shastry, Associate Director at Dexter Capital; Rathnakar Samavedam, Investment Director & CEO of Hyderabad Angels; Santosh Sharma, Founder of Bookmyjet; Aneel Mitra, CEO of Biz Credence; Verdentum, an impact assessment consulting firm; The Philosopher’s Stone – brand 

Leaders from AWS, Intel, chosen startups, and government officials, including Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Information Technology (IT), Government of Telangana, numerous stakeholders, and other dignitaries, attended the program’s concluding ceremony at T-Hub.

T-initiatives Hub’s have effectively scaled firms in partnership with a robust partner ecosystem. T-Hub has impacted over 1,800 startups in India through programmes and initiatives such as investment opportunities, sector-specific accelerators, innovation challenges, and access to corporate memberships. T-Hub also has over 600 global and national corporate partners to support startup networking and interactions, as well as 2,000 mentor connections to help startups scale.

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