Three young start-ups companies in the state – Brushflicks, Intellis and Androcid – were announced as the winners of Chief Minister’s Start-up Challenge 2017.
Panaji
Brushflicks won the first prize, which also came with a cash award of Rs 5 lakhs. Intellis and Androcid won the second and third prizes with cash prizes of Rs 2 and Rs 1 lakh respectively. EDC conducted this competition with support from Goa State Innovation Council and Don Bosco College of Engineering, Fatorda. 38 start-ups participated in the contest, of which, 10 were shortlisted to give a presentation in front of a panel made up of businessmen, academicians and prominent people from other fields.
The event to announce the winners was presided over by the CM Manohar Parrikar, EDC chairman Sidharth Kuncalienker, EDC’s managing director S. V. Vernekar, Goa State Innovation Council’s chairman Jose Manuel Noronha among others.
This was the second edition of this contest. Speaking on the occasion, Sidharth Kuncalienker, chairman, EDC, said, “Last year’s winner has already got Rs 3 crores equity investment from a private investor merely on the basis of this award.” This shows that start-ups can actually utilise this recognition to get much needed investment, which can help them grow.
The entire concept of a start-up challenge was conceived by EDC vice-chairman Santosh R Kenkre. “We thought of the idea of a competition for start-ups because start-ups can help in the economic development of the state. The whole process for the competition was conducted in a very transparent manner,” he said, adding, “Ten judges evaluated the participants independently and marks given were sealed on the spot. No one knew how many marks the other judges had given.”
