The team developed a zero-waste platform based on an Intel Edison board for Arduino, Intel IoT analytics platform and the Intel powered Jan Unnati tablet, to streamline and automate urban recycling operations at every stage.

By | Business Bureau | Published: 9:42 pm 12:34 am

Hyderabad: After almost 10 months of rigorous analysis, the Intel and DST Innovate for Digital India Challenge 2.0 have announced T-Hub incubated startup Banyan Nation as the winner.

The team developed a zero-waste platform based on an Intel Edison board for Arduino, Intel IoT analytics platform and the Intel powered Jan Unnati tablet, to streamline and automate urban recycling operations at every stage. Combining informatics and hardware engineering, Banyan Nation’s management system aims to root out bottlenecks in the recycling value chain. It has developed a modular system, customisable to the requirements of different municipalities and third-party system integrators.

As part of the challenge, the company also developed Better Plastic, a high-grade plastic made from recycled material. By leveraging its platform that connects the demand for recycled plastic with its supply, Banyan Nation aims to formalise the recycling sector by closing the loop between industry and waste aggregators. The company also won a cash prize of Rs 20 lakh.

“The winners epitomise the philosophy of the Intel & DST – Innovate for Digital India Challenge 2.0, which is to build a fairer, more equitable India, by improving access to technology. This year, we expanded the scope of Challenge 2.0 by including the categories of smart city and sustainability, under which some of the most innovative solutions such as Banyan Nation have emerged,” said Prakash Mallya, Managing Director – Sales & Marketing Group, Intel Technology India.

Challenge 2.0, the second edition of the Intel & DST – Innovate for Digital India Challenge, is a platform for end-to-end hardware product innovation that identifies and incubates homegrown entrepreneurial solutions that address India’s indigenous issues. This year, Intel India and Department of Science & Technology (DST) collaborated with T-Hub to identify ideas that could solve complex issues at the country’s grassroots level through technology and automation, accelerating the transition to a Digital India.

The challenge received 797 applications out of which top 10 startups were selected and given Rs 3 lakh grant money. Out of the top 10, three were selected that included apart from Banyan Nation – AllizHealth, that works in the preventive healthcare technology space and iNICU and iCHR that helps in reduction of neonatal infant mortality rate.