T-Hub: 4 Startups bag global awards

Four promising startups part of T-Hub, one of the largest startup ecosystem builders in India, with over 2000 startups in its database, have bagged prestigious awards and recognitions in competitions held exclusively to identify emerging startups in the country. The startups to win accolades include Hug Innovations, Loop Reality, AuthBase and Kheyti.

Hug Innovations is the maker of the gesture-control Hug Smartwatch capable of flying drones, navigating smart televisions, and controlling virtual reality-based applications through hand gestures. 1500 startups from all over the world participated in the Global Mobile Challenge and Hug Innovations was awarded the best in India, Top 3 in the APAC and one of the Top 10 finalists in the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Hug Innovations was also declared the winner of The India Region Round of the 1st China (Shenzhen) Innovation & Entrepreneurship International Competition held at Bengaluru. While they received a cash prize of RMB 100,000, another emerging startup player, Loop Reality, was declared 2nd Runner-up and received a cash prize of RMB 30,000. Both these companies qualify for the global finals of the competition, which will be held at Shenzhen, China between April 11 - 18, 2017.

Commenting on their win, Raj Neravati, Founder, Hug Innovations said, “To be crowned as the most promising startup in the national rounds and representing India internationally is a huge boost for us at Hug Innovations. We are thankful to the Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt of China, Sino India Trade and Culture Promotion Council and the City Government of Shenzen. We are constantly striving to bridge the gap between people and technology through our wearable products.”

LoopFit, an immersive multiplayer VR fitness solution, allows its users to experience outdoor environments, indoors. Speaking on the occasion, Jignesh Talasila, Founder, Loop Reality said “Loop Reality is a leading disruptive technology firm. We have been working on an ever-growing number of technology solutions since our founding in August 2016. In a relatively short period of time, Loop Reality has grown to become the go-to VR firm for creating immersive experiences and solutions. With our first product, LoopFit, the team has marked a presence at renowned global tech-driven platforms.”

Loop Reality is a perfect amalgamation of technologies such as VR, IoT, and Analytics, it serves as the future of indoor fitness training. With gyms and health clubs as potential customers, the team has already started reaching out to them and have seen a tremendous pre-launch interest and the company expects to launch the product by end of May this year.

AuthBase, a deep tech cyber security company working out of T-Hub has been recognized with the HOT 1OO: RACE TO GRACE 2017 Award, which champions innovation and enterprise. Authbase provides frameworks for developers to secure their applications and use Deep Learning to detect and mitigate hack and bot attacks real-time.

Hot 100 Awards, identifies startups providing unique and disruptive technology solutions that work, deliver real benefits, are innovative and potentially address the market at large. Entries were received from a wide array of fields, from Cloud and Data Analytics to Healthcare, Education, Social Media, eCommerce, IoT, and BFSI, among others.

Speaking on the sidelines of receiving the award, Umesh Thota, CEO & Founder, AuthBase said, “It gives us great honour in receiving this award. It gives us a platform and access through which we can introduce our company to the world. While partners like T-Hub provide us with excellent infrastructure, support and assistance, such recognitions and awards motivate us to work harder and scale greater heights.”

The fourth start-up nurtured by T-Hub and garnered international attention after being conferred with the “Acumen Global Award 2017” in Kenya is Kheyti, an AgriTech company that creates dependable incomes to small farmers using technology was the winner of this prestigious award.

Kheyti designs, adapts and implements low-cost farming solutions that help small farmers increase yield and predictability of produce. These technologies are combined with end-to-end support to give farmers a seamless path towards income increase. The company has also developed “Greenhouse-in-a-box” – an affordable, modular greenhouse bundled with full stack services that uses 90% less water, grows 7 times more food and gives farmers a steady dependable income.

Speaking on the success of the startups, Jay Krishnan, CEO, T-Hub said, "The Indian startup ecosystem is one of the most thriving environments in the world. However, scalability remains a huge challenge. We constantly explore entrepreneurs who have a high quotient of innovation, curate them with connects to corporates and help them achieve scale through revenue streams as opposed to models that are traditionally funding- based. We do this by leveraging access & expertise of corporates, data from research and support from the government all under one roof that makes it a thriving environment for startups to grow”.

The unique model of T-Hub enables investors and corporates to plan programs and capacity building initiatives in a targeted and organized manner. T-Hub is also the only model where the government is working intensely with the investor and the partner to fuel innovation and facilitate enterprise.