The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR, AUG 28, 2023
A promising young Odia entrepreneur Anup Paikaray bagged the winner’s title, a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh and a fully sponsored trip to Boston at the finals of SmartIDEAthon 2023 — an annual pan-India mega pitch-fest organized by GITAM (Deemed to be University). Presenting to an eminent jury of experts in Hyderabad, this student of the Odisha University of Technology and Research made a winning pitch for his startup Newrup Tech Solutions, which develops heat-powered air blowers to harness excess heat from Chulas or Tandoors, converting it into rotational energy for an internal fan, at just Rs 500.
The innovation, named Chuliv, has the potential to redefine energy efficiency and impact the lives of over two billion women still cooking on traditional chulhas/mud stoves worldwide.
Speaking about this remarkable victory, the winner Anup Paikaray said, “Biomass stoves have been an integral part of rural households for generations, but come with the risk of indoor air pollution. Our clean-cooking equipment has the potential to impact over two billion people all over the world, especially regions such as Africa, Philippines, India, Bangladesh, which are underdeveloped or developing countries, which are still using, in their remote corners, the Biomass burning stone, mudstone or the chulha. This small and affordable device costs nearly INR 500 and can be attached to a stove, increasing its efficiency by 30%, reducing the chances of inhaling toxic fumes and the time of cooking, and creating an overall benefit to rural women. With support from stakeholders such as CTTC, ICICI Foundation, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and AIC Nalanda, we are sure to make a positive impact.”
Fostering a deep connection to India’s vibrant startup ecosystem, the national-level competition invited UG and PG student innovators and ideation-level ventures to pitch ideas for sustainable and resilient community building, across four themes: Food and health, Toys for STEM, Sustainable Fashion and Frugal Innovation. SmartIDEAthon is organized by Venture Development Centre, GITAM (Deemed to be University) in collaboration with StartupIndia, Northeastern University Center for Emerging Markets, Boston and Northeastern University Center for Entrepreneurship Education (NUCEE), Boston.
The runners-up, Vineet Kumar and Manish Bibhu, students of Bihar’s Sershah Engineering College won Rs 1 lakh for POLYFUELER, which is working on revolutionizing waste management by transforming diverse plastic waste into fuel, powered by a proprietary catalyst. The finale took place in person at GITAM’s Hyderabad campus recently. Handing over the coveted title was the event’s Chief Guest and India’s gifted space entrepreneur Pawan Kumar Chandana, Skyroot Aerospace co-founder and ex-ISRO scientist.
