Hackathon: The prime event of RIBC 2.0 was the Rural-AgriTech Hackathon in which 19 teams participated. The 30 hour hackathon was supported by 15 mentors, 12 startup founders and 10 scientists from ICAR-CPCRI. The team from Christ College of Engineering, Thrissur was adjudged as the winners to receive a cash prize of Rs.50,000 given by the Kerala Startup Mission.
Dr. Anitha Karun inaugurating the Rural-Agri Tech Hackathon at Win Touch Palm Meadows, Manya, Kasaragod; participants on the process of 30 hour hacking
Funder’s Talks: During the conference, five startup founders addressed the delegates:
• Shri Mathew Joseph, Co-Founder & CEO, Fresh to Home
• Shri Kishore Indukuri, Founder & CEO, Sid’s Farm
• Shri Mohammed Hisamudheen, Co-Founder & CEO, Entri App
• Er. Abhishek Burman, Founder & CEO, General Aeronautics, Bangalore
• Shri Manjunath Marappan, CEO, Happy Hens
Expert’s Talks: There were five expert talks beside the online address by Dr. Saji Gopinath, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Digital University of Kerala.
• Shri Rupesh Kumar K, Coordinator, Responsive Tourism Mission, Kerala (Topic: Local Tourism: The untapped reservoir)
• Dr. Elain Apshara, Principal Scientist, CPCRI (Topic: Cocoa to chocolate: Opportunities from farm to industry)
• Shri K. T. Thomas, Director, ESAF (Topic: Hand Holding in GroomingUP Innovative Rural Startup Entrepreneurs)
• Dr. C. Thamban, Principal Scientist (Topic: A framework for Inclusive Development with special reference to Kasaragod district)
Two MoUs were exchanged during the inaugural programme: One with Arable Labs India (P) Ltd, Bangalore for incubation at CPCRI for developing sensor applications. The other was with Amitav Rural Empowerment Charitable Agricultural and Religious Trust, Punalur for jointly conducting activities under SCSP in Thiruvananthapuram district.
Panel Discussions:There were three panel discussions:
(i) Social Alpha for Social Impact Startups: Shri Ishan Muhammed, Founder & CEO, Katha moderated. Shri Harshan Vazhakunnu, Shri Jacob Poulose, and Shri Kishore Athota, from Social Alpha participated.
(ii) Startups to leverage rural economy: Shri P.K. Gopalakrishnan, MD, Mizone, Kannur moderated and Shri Mohammed Hisamudheen, Co-Founder & CEO, Entri App and Shri Manoj, Co-Founder, St. Judes Herbal Pvt. Ltd. were the panelists.
(iii) Startup financing: Shri Ajayan Kavungal former banker, moderated and Sajithkumar, GM, DIC, Kasaragod, Mrs. Deepti Nair, Joint Director, CDB, Kochi and Shri Arun, Arun, Kerala Startup Mission were the panelists.
Startup Pitch: Social Alpha conducted a startup pitch in which five startups participated.
Interdisciplinary Workspace for Innovative Research: An interactive meeting with scientist of ICAR-CPCRI and Kerala startup mission was conducted on 11 June 2022.
Investors Meet: A dinner meeting was hosted by Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Central University of Kerala in which over 30 business men participated. Vice Chancellor Prof. H. Venkateshwarlu, remarked that the University is open to entrepreneurs for making the best use of business knowledge.
Dream Big Kalpa: The 2022 edition of Dream Big Kalpa signified by the presentations on ICAR technologies from seven ICAR institutes (CTCRI, CIFT, IISR, SBI, DCR, IIHR and CPCRI)on 12 June 2022. It was inaugurated by Dr. K. Sreenivas, ADG (IPTM), ICAR, New Delhi. Dr. Anitha Karun, Director (Acting), ICAR-CPCRI presided over the function andDr.Sudha Mysore, CEO, Agrinnovate India was the moderator. Er. Abhishek Burman, Founder & CEO, General, Aeronautics, Bangalore was felicitated in the function for the success of the company in entering to defence applications as part of Adani Defence. ICAR-CPCRI is a partner of General Aeronautics for developing UAV applications in plantation sector.
Outcome:
• Central institutions, state agencies, and private investors were brought together in a platform to discuss and chalk out plans for need based development and investment
• Public private partnership for skill development in applications of UAV, IoT and AI
• There is a need to take technologies to the marginalized communities to achieve inclusive growth
• RIBC has established itself as a prime mover of rural uplift through technology driven business.