Author: coeblog

More than just cricket

The Indian sports tech space is still in a very nascent stage but there have been significant strides made over the last 18–24 months. Properties such as the Indian Super League (Football) and Pro Kabaddi League can’t yet compete with the commercial clout of the Indian Premier League (Cricket), but their growing popularity and the increased interest in other alternative sports such as marathons, cycling and even eSports is indicative of a growing sports economy thus presents opportunities for startups. read more

Str8bat’s technology and features allows to improve one’s game. It is designed for both serious and casual players of Cricket, it’s accessible and affordable. read more

The team at AIRmaker, a Singapore-based IoT-focussed accelerator, has a knack for picking out innovative IoT startups tackling pressing problems. But what is less known is their ability to weave togethan intricate tapestry of storylines. read more

Villgro, which incubates and invests in social enterprises, has made a seed investment in agri start-up Green Robot Machinery Pvt Ltd (GRoboMac), which is developing a robot to pick cotton. read more

The Indian farmer, sadly, features more in grim headlines than in stories of innovation. Historically and traditionally, India has been an agrarian economy, with the sector now contributing 17 percent to the national GDP. Even today, over 58 percent of households depend on it for their livelihood. But drought, poor infrastructure, and lack of dependable labour have resulted in poor yield year after year. One of the biggest challenges is irrigation, especially for small farmers who use drip or sprinkler systems, particularly when water is seen as an increasingly finite and precious resource. read more

Manohar Sambandam has spent nearly 27 years in the semi-conductor industry working to tight deadlines. But, now as the CEO and co-founder of Green Robot Machinery Pvt Ltd (GRoboMac), he is racing against time to accomplish something by July. He also has to convince investors that his project – building a robot that will pick cotton – will indeed be capable of picking as much as cotton as it can, as he seeks to raise over ₹2 crore. read more

Chipset maker Qualcomm had announced its Design in India Challenge back in 2015, with entries from over 400 Indian tech and hardware startups. The challenge was to build hardware based on Qualcomm’s technologies in a bid to boost local manufacturing and innovation. After 10 finalists were shortlisted in April, 2016, the winners of the hardware competition will be announced at an event being held at New Delhi today.

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Story Highlights

• Manohar Sambandam, a tech entrepreneur-turned farmer, makes a robotic platform to harvest cotton. The trigger was rice and cotton harvests he lost due to lack of farm labour.
• The cotton picking robot has a tentative market price of Rs 4-5 lakh. The idea is to extend its use to pick strawberries and grapes, as also to weeding.
• While agri-tech robots are a hot area for investment in the west, they haven’t attracted much backing or been in deals in India.

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