Zone Startups India on Tuesday announced it has selected 15 women entrepreneurs out of 376 applications for the second cohort of its accelerator programme, empoWer.
The accelerator programme, launched in 2016, is backed by the Department of Science and Technology, Tata Trusts' Social Alpha, software giant Microsoft, e-tailer Amazon, ICICI Bank, PayU, CapitalFirst and FlexiLoans.
Startups selected for the 2017 batch span technology themes such as Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and deep learning, across industries like healthcare, smart cities and enterprise solutions.
Here are the 15 entrepreneurs and their ventures.
Aardra​ ​Kannan​ ​Ambili​, Riot Solutions Inc.
Ambili holds a master's in artificial intelligence from University of Georgia and leads the technology portfolio at Riot Solutions. She has worked as an AI research scientist at DudeGenie, and online travel agent Yatra.
Riot Solutions' product Raybaby uses radar technology to track babies' health and sleep. The company raised $100,000 from US fund SOSV Ventures and hardware startup incubator HAX. It received around 1,500 pre-orders in the first 30 days of its launch.
Meenakshi​ ​Vashist, TekUncorked
Vashist, who drives business modelling, strategy, operations and financial oversight at TekUncorked, has over 29 years' experience in products. She earlier headed worldwide programmes for cellular products at Freescale Semiconductor.
TekUncorked​ offers a light IoT framework for devices and appliances, making them connected and smart. The company claims that its IoT network enables B2B customers to rapidly build and deploy platforms for diverse use-cases such as smart homes, rentals, maintenance, and shopping, among others.
Komal​ ​Goyali, WOWLET
Goyali, who is co-founder of WOWLET, has more than three years of management and strategy consulting experience with multinationals such as Deloitte. A Young India Fellow, she has also worked with mobility startups and in the field of urban innovation with international think tank World Resources Institute.
WOWLET runs a mobile application that gives the user real-time information on the cleanliness of a toilet. It also provides toilet maintenance services.
Neha Bagoria, Tapu Sustainable Solutions
Bagoria​, the founder of Tapu Sustainable Solutions, ​is​ ​a​ ​social entrepreneur. Prior to founding Tapu, she worked as software consultant. She has so far innovated three patent technology versions for waterless urinals, namely, EcoTrapIn, EcoTrapInPlus and EcoTraplnXtra. Her experience ranges across technology innovation, product development, sales and marketing.
Tapu​ ​Sustainable​ ​Solutions​ is into sustainable green solutions that help alleviate issues like climate change.
Vishakha​ ​Singh, ICONICbot
Singh, the COO of ICONICbot, ​is an actor and film producer with over nine years' of experience in the entertainment sector. Her company ICONICbot is India's first multilingual, AI-driven chatbot connecting influencers and their fans on relevant messaging platforms.
The company has on-boarded six reputed film celebrities and two major film production houses with a cumulative Facebook following of 20 million users. The bot is available in key languages including English and Tamil, and claims to have processed 2.6 million messages.
Shruthi​ ​Gilla, Revol Inc.
​Gilla, founder and COO of Revol Inc, has a master's in computer applications. She has over 10 years' experience in IT consulting and product development. She was earlier employed with Deloitte.
Revol​ ​Inc.​ ​operates Cashew, a smart wallet with fingerprint authentication and bluetooth connectivity. The company is registered in Delaware, USA. It is on target to sell 10,000 units globally and generating $1,000,000 in revenue.
Niyati​ ​Agarwal, Morph.ai
Agarwal, co-founder of Morph.ai, is an NIT engineering graduate with over three years of startup exposure. She is experienced in the space of social media marketing and enterprise SaaS. Her company Morph.ai​ ​ ​is an enterprise chatbot suite that helps businesses engage in personalised marketing and sales. The company has introduced the concept of 'chatbot as a landing page' to boost lead generation for businesses. It boasts of clients such as Manchester City Football Club, Yes Bank, Yamaha and Estee Lauder, among others.
Chandni​ ​Rajendran, Tactopus
Rajendran is a design innovator from Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay. Her company Tactopus​​ ​is developing an interactive ed-tech device for blind children to. Its products include interactive books, using which blind children can listen to audio labels and explanations while feeling/reading tactile shapes with their fingers.
Pria Randolph, Bitgram Technologies
​Randolph,​ co-founder of Bitgram Technologies, ​is an expert in data intelligence and large enterprise systems architecture. She is also a certified clinical hypnotherapist and Latin dancer. Her company, Bitgram​ ​Technologies​ ​Pvt.​ ​Ltd​, uses blockchain and machine learning for instant, real-time exchange of verified information.
Veena​ ​Moktali, Periwinkle Technologies
Moktali​, CEO and chief innovator at Periwinkle Technologies, has a strong background in technology and engineering. She also has significant experience in business strategy and product commercialisation. Her company, Periwinkle​ ​Technologies​ ​Pvt.​ ​Ltd, is a med-tech startup that enables faster and better diagnostics. The company has developed an affordable device for cervical cancer diagnosis, with Tata Memorial Center as clinical partner.
Vidya​ ​Vellala, Faasthelp
Vellala, founder and CEO of Faasthelp, has over 15 years' experience in technology. She has expertise in the areas of CRM, supply chain, finance, insurance and ERP.
Faasthelp​ runs a simple customer support and engagement platform. It helps businesses retain customers, convert new ones and enhance customer satisfaction.
Sivareena​ ​Sarika, PregBuddy Technologies
An ​IIT Kharagpur graduate, Sarika earlier led supply chain at rental startup Furlenco. She was also a part of Google Launchpad Build and SheLeadsTech by Facebook. Her company, PregBuddy​ ​Technologies​, is a 1-1 smart communication platform between doctors and patients with chronic conditions.
Mansi Khanna, The Friday Code
​Khanna​, co-founder of The Friday Code, led mobile advertising at Bharti Airtel before starting The Friday Code.
Founded in 2016, The Friday​ ​Code builds products and platforms to help brands and agencies increase their return on investment through efficient tracking and optimisation of advertising spend.
Geetanjali​ ​Agarwal, Bizlem
Agarwal, co-founder of Bizlem, ​is​ ​an electrical engineer from Manipal Institute of Technology. She has been working in the areas of artificial intelligence and deep learning for over five years now.
Bizlem is an innovative bot platform that tries to solve major business problems using AI.
Dr​ ​Tanushree​ ​Devi​ ​Laishram, CyGen
Devi Laishram, a clinical cardiologist, ​is also a technology enthusiast aspiring to bring cutting-edge technology to healthcare.
CyGen​ ​is a patient-centric, cloud-based preventive healthcare platform. According to the company, the platform provides unprecedented access to personalised healthcare services.
Leveraging predictive analytics and machine learning, CyGen's health cloud platform helps various channels diagnose patients earlier and with higher accuracy.