By Mayank Jain:
The Indian innovation has led the way for the world to follow from the times of giving the world a ‘0’ to paving the way for modern Chess as we know it today which developed in Europe after borrowing from the Indian game of Chaturanga, developed in Gupta Empire.
The sun shines over us in the 21st century and the Indian innovation space is heating up with multiple contenders with their products and services promising to put India back on the world map of innovation. The start-up space has been given a new lease of life by the interest of foreign investors and venture capitals while rural innovators are counting on funding by National Small Scale Industries Corporation and together, they are giving birth to a new enterprising India which is first to unveil things the world will love.
Here are the best of recent innovations that you should keep an eye on:
1. Fin: Fin can be rightly called the lord of all the rings. It is a path breaking product in the wearable technology space. Fin is a tiny ring that you can wear on your thumb and connect seamlessly to many devices through Bluetooth and go on with your work without the need of pulling out the device out of your pocket. With Fin, one can share music, change songs, control car AC, switch the lights of their living room by just gesturing the thumb on other four fingers. The uses are endless and the cost is just $120 making it an affordable piece of the future for you. Fin was born in Cochin and incubated in California. Here is a video that explains Fin:
2. Adister: Adister is a startup in the right direction. Started by Ex IIT Roorkee students who didn’t go for placements to make their dream come true. Adister provides smart notebooks which are every day notebooks with high quality paper and an advertisement on their cover which brings down the cost of notebooks by as much as 60%, or more in some cases. The availability of cheap stationery is crucial to achieving India’s dream of literacy and this ingenious idea needs as much support as it can get to scale up and revolutionize the way we educate our children. Here is a video you should watch to understand the concept:
3. Reliance Jio Wi-Fi Hotspots: Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio telecom is about to make another dent in the Internet universe of India by 4G Wi-Fi hotspot services being rolled out on pilot basis. As many as 55,000 devices in parts of Gujarat are using these services which are free of charge, for now. Reliance Jio has already entered into multiple content tie-ups with Walt Disney, Extramarks Education, and Network18 for its offerings. A small country called Niue is the world’s only country with free Wi-Fi available all over its 260 square kilometers of area. On the other hand, most European and American provinces have Wi-Fi hotspots available which make the internet easily accessible and ensuring seamless availability of work and fun on the devices.
4. Renew It: Computers from the scrap, that’s what Renew It does every day. Started by an IIM alumnus Mukund, the company is in the business of buying computers and electronic scraps from the corporates and they turn them into working computers. These working machines are then, sold to the rural areas at very cheap rates which makes computing, an affordable affair for the people with limited means. The company has already sold 10,000 computers so far and you can check them out here.
5. Flipkart-Myntra Wedding: The great Indian eCommerce wedding, as it is being called in the tech circles is one of the greatest acquisitions so far in the Indian eCommerce space. The deal is one of the biggest attempts at consolidation in the e-tail market. The growing dominance of Amazon and eBay has been effectively put on hold with this acquisition which will enable Flipkart to eye its IPO plans more seriously. Flipkart’s one day delivery, premium services called Flipkart First and its alliance with Motorola to retail their phones have already made the world take notice of this new fire power in the Indian economy. Here are the implications of the deal.
The Indian technology industry is finally going beyond just software development and IT services concentrated in Bangalore and the sheer potential of Indians to change the world can be observed in the success stories of Ola Cabs, Zomato and Flipkart to only name a few.
What do you consider to be the next big thing from India? Tell us in the comments below.
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