Kochi based Maker Village, one of the three government approved electronics incubator projects in the country, has partnered with Bosch Group to attract budding entrepreneurs towards the multi-billion dollar consumer electronic segment.
Unlike IT-based start-ups, the challenges before electronic start-ups are manifold — with a lack of of skills and capability. Considering the small number of successful electronic start-ups in the country it is a fact that to find a scalable product or even a prototype, is a daunting task. To overcome this, Maker Village has taken a pragmatic approach in the form of ‘constrained innovation’. In this context, the challenges provided by Bosch are intended to enable start-ups to quickly bring product to market by using Bosch’s knowhow in productization and certification as well as industrial design, said Chief Consultant of Maker Village and a professor at IIITM-K, Rajeev Srinivasan. Those start-ups that succeed in solving the challenges will be incubated by Maker Village, with monetary support including cash prizes from Bosch.
Bosch DNA Challenge
Bosch will provide problem statements from their focus industry verticals. The challenges will broadly fall into the categories of Smart City, IOT, Wearables, Robotics and embedded electronic products There will be at least 5 challenges. Teams (of max 3 members) will send their solution for one or more challenge via the website before 01 Dec 2016. The proposals are evaluated by a team from Bosch and Maker Village and the better teams are called in December 2016/Jan 2017 to present their idea to a panel either in person or via video conferencing/Skype.
The best solutions will be selected and offered pre-incubation for about 3 months (Jan-Mar/Apr 2017) at Maker Village, Kochi, to develop a prototype. Bosch will sponsor the pre-incubation at Maker Village. The teams can also choose to work from their own premises or make use of the facilities offered.
Prototyping support of up to `50,000 per team will be offered by Bosch. Bosch and Maker Village will support with maker space and mentorship. Bosch will also provide the necessary support for prototyping parts, tools, software and accessories. Teams which are able to successfully demonstrate the prototype will be declared winners. Each winning team will be offered a cash prize of `1 lakh and incubation at Maker Village, Kochi, for 12 months. They will be called Bosch scholars.
Bosch will help the team register as a startup and support their product idea with industrialisation and market reach. Bosch will offer them a monthly stipend to cover living and boarding expenses at Kochi.
Students can register at goo.gl/forms/xhI55h7UC9zWTWDI2