Tech For Change

Relocating Using Tech!

Up-skilling The Gap Between College Education & Getting A Job!

Founded in 2021, ed tech startup FunctionUp operates a pay-after-placement model and trains students in backend engineering, coding, and programming subjects. In 2021, serial entrepreneurs Bharat Gupta and Pritesh Kumar founded FunctionUp to bridge the gap between college education and the skills required for a job. Y-Combinator-backed FunctionUp is a placement boot camp-focused backend engineering learning platform, which trains candidates from any background in software development courses.

Solving India's Water Problem!

Bengaluru-based watertech startup Uravu Labs uses solar energy and non-polluting chemical desiccants like Silica to adsorb water from the air, sterilise it, and prepare for consumption. Founded in 2019 by Pardeep Garg, Swapnil Shrivastav, Venkatesh R and Govinda Balaji, Uravu Labs is dedicated to building an ‘atmospheric water generator’ that runs on 100% renewable energy. The water-from-air concept is not new, though, as many startups already operate in the space. But unlike Uravu, most of them...

Re-'packaging' Entrepreneurship!

An ecopreneur by passion and a professional engineer, Surabhi Shah is responsible for Carragreen's marketing, finances, and product manufacturing. She is passionate about yoga and design. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law team are known for shattering social norms and are on a mission to offer customised, biodegradable, non-toxic, and eco-friendly products at reasonable prices. She established Carragreen in 2018, an eco-friendly startup based in Indore that specialises in biodegradable stati...

The Youngest Contestant On Shark Tank India

13-year-old Anoushka Jolly, the founder, and CEO of InnerArk Blocktech Private Limited, Anti Bullying Squad (ABS), and Kavach, The Mobile App, is from Gurugram. She defines herself as an 8th grader who loves writing, entrepreneurship, and psychology. When she presented her idea on Shark Tank India, she was the youngest contestant. She has gained attention for her concept for the Kavach app, a tool to assist kids her age in combat bullying in schools and colleges. The awareness-building social in...

Making Investment In India's Start-up Ecosystem Accessible To Everyone!

What did you do when you were 16? Goofed around, played, and joked? A child prodigy and two-time entrepreneur Krishna Maggo manages an online platform for startups to raise money. When his board exams were postponed to 2021, Krishna founded his first business and used the free time to launch "GrowwVenture," a platform for angel investing. He then concentrated on retail investors and built his second business, "Sateeq," which enables regular people to become investors by contributing as little as...

India's 100th Unicorn & How They Did It!

OPEN is a neo-banking startup based in Bengaluru that is focused on small businesses, enabling them to manage cash flows, automate accounting and get easy access to credit lines. The account has all the tools that are required by a small business to send and receive payments, combined with an AI-based accounting engine that automates bookkeeping and expense management. Apart from enabling businesses to run their finances effectively, the platform also offers APIs for developers to integrate bank...

How Reels are changing the way content is created on Instagram

Meta (formerly Facebook) organised a creator meet-up in Bangalore, to celebrate creators from Karnataka, and the way they are using Reels as a global stage to grow and be discovered. In this episode of Tech for Change, host Kay Machado is in conversation with Mr Manish Chopra, Director and Head of Partnerships, Meta to talk about how Reels are changing the way content is created on Instagram and how reels are giving regional players a global stage.

Bagging the National Technology Business Incubator Award!

Global warming is real and sustainable development is the only way around it and CCAMP is on a mission to bring it to life. The Bengaluru-based research foundation bagged the National Technology Business Incubator Award. The sustainable development-focused firm ‘Sea6Energy’, which uses seaweed to create plant health bioactives, was incubated by C-CAMP as well as ‘Bugworks’ in the healthcare sector that focuses on next-generation broad-spectrum antibiotics to combat antimicrobial resistance.

How can we remove the mundane tasks that hinder the creation of a start-up?

So, you have decided to establish a start-up. You have presented your ideas to investors, you have the groundwork ready, as well as a list of potential employees. But where do you go from there? How do you navigate the messy world of taxes and paperwork and laws surrounding businesses? Udita Pal and Ankit Parasher realised that there is a great need among early-stage startups to manage their finances, and set up the neo-banking platform SALT to cater to this specific gap in the market. Tune in t...

Trends in Healthcare That You Never Saw Coming!

Soraj Dhanai and A Vijayarajan founded Innaccel. The company uses Biodesign to identify and validate critical unmet needs in India through a 3-4 month clinical immersion at a partner hospital. They have designed products like an AI-powered fetal heart rate monitor for mothers in labor or after 36 weeks of gestation. It claims to be more accurate, reliable and easier to use than conventional heart rate monitors. In addition to this, they have also introduced a portable device that can provide bre...

Building The Circular Economy Of Waste With Tech!

Waste is the biggest problem that India is facing right now, and there are about 1.4 lakh tonnes of solid waste generated every day. Recykal, hopes to solve that problem by unlocking a circular economy, where waste is also used as raw material for more products. The Hyderabad-based firm has a hyperlocal infrastructure to connect waste collectors in the most effective way possible using technology. It was also recognised as Tech Pioneer 2022 by the World Economic Forum. Tune into the conversation...

The Carbon Finance Market Just Got A Tech Upgrade!

With global warming and climate change being the most pressing issues today, businesses are hurrying up to reduce their carbon footprint. With this in mind, Saurabh Saraf and Ankit Mathur founded OffsetFarm, which is building on the Polygon blockchain, enabling investors to pre-finance climate projects that are listed on the platform. The investments are represented by NFTs called SPROUT, along with a token called OFFSET that is equivalent to one tonne of CO2 saved. The Singapore-registered star...

The Future Of Safety In India Using Tech!

In the past, there have been several accidents at places like construction sites and mines, which have all been caused by lack of safety infrastructure. These accidents cost people their lives, and families their only sources of income. Blue-collar workers are sent into dangerous places, sometimes armed with only a helmet. But what if there is a way to improve the safety helmet, by enabling it with technology and making it easier for the wearer and the supervisors to better look out for their we...

'All Rise' For The New Tech In The Legal System!

Legal processes in India can seem long, daunting and hopelessly complicated for the average person. 23-year-old lawyer Shreya Sharma took this on as a challenge and set out to simplify all things legal by launching her own start-up, Rest the Case. The Pune-based company provides a media platform that serves two purposes: one, it simplifies complex legal jargon, and two, it provides templates for legal agreements and contracts that are customisable to the person’s needs. The primary aim of the pl...

You Could Be Flying To Work Soon!

Across the world, companies are working on building electric planes or flying taxis, either to carry goods or passengers. In India, Ubifly Technologies Private Limited, better known as The ePlane Company (TEC), is at the forefront of this sector. The company was founded in 2016 by Pranjal Mehta and Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy to provide aerial delivery services. A hybrid of drone and electric airplane technology, the startup is focused on building electric planes and unmanned aerial vehicles (UA...

How Is Blockchain Changing The Art World?

Entrepreneur Vaishnavi Murali is bridging the access gap between artists and art buyers through Eikowa, India’s first online art gallery to obtain blockchain certification.Know more about the first platform to introduce blockchain technology for provenance in art in India. It has gone beyond catering to B2C buyers online and has ventured into B2B business as well.At present, Eikowa features paintings, serigraphs, and sculptures by over 80 artists including MF Hussain, Jatin Das, Raja Ravi Verma,...

The Job Market is Changing!

Noida-based Jobsgaar is a career-tech platform aimed at connecting job seekers and employers from Tier II and III towns of India through a hassle-free process. Jobsgaar is a career-tech venture that is disrupting decade-old marketplaces or search-and-browse models for recruiters and job seekers. With its omnichannel approach and proprietary technology, Jobsgaar helps employers find well-matched and verified talent in Tier II and III towns in less than two minutes. The brand enables access to var...

Unwrapping Web 3.0

PlayVerse , a technology-enabled entertainment company built on Web 3, has raised $1.5 million as seed funding from Japanese gaming company Akatsuki Inc. PlayVerse plans to launch its own D2C brand, which will be focused on an interconnected universe of content and “play”. It aims to unlock the full potential of an IP with a 360-degree approach to content and merchandise. This merchandise would include both physical products such as toys as well as digital assets like avatars, emojis, and skins ...

The Backbone MSMEs Need In India!

Imprezz is the Indian vertical of Germany-based data service company Buhl Group, which was founded in 1995 by Waldemar Buhl. Imprezz was launched in 2019 and provides various services such as generating invoices, accounting solutions, payments, and more. According to Amit, the core of Imprezz is to become a “backbone for MSMEs” and build a platform that caters to all their needs. Apart from financing, MSMEs also face the challenge of finding a single solution for their different needs such as ac...

Changing The Way We Package Water For Good!

Suneeth Tatineni and Chaitanya Ayinapudi from Hyderabad quit their IT jobs to start Caro Water, a one-of-a-kind startup delivering drinking water in paper boxes. Caro water is pure water that needs no description but the priority is the sustainable packaging that won’t harm nature, animals, and seashores. They believe in the customer base who are influenced by a green lifestyle, consciousness of health and the planet. India, a country home to over 1.3 billion people, equivalent to 17.7% of the w...

Unlocking the Future of Audio for Creators with AI!

In this episode of Tech For Change, our host @offairwithkay speaks with Mansoor Rahimat Khan and Siddharth Bhardwaj, co-founders of Bengaluru-based Beatoven.ai uses artificial intelligence (AI) to take the hassle out of composing and licensing music. Launched in 2021, Beatoven.ai is an AI-powered music tech startup that helps YouTubers, advertising agencies, and wedding film production houses create original soundtracks. The platform also solves music acquisition and licensing problems faced by ...

A Powder To Purify Water Could Just Be The Future!

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISERB), Bhopal, have developed organic polymers, which they claim can remove toxic micropollutants from water, thus making it safer for human consumption. The research team led by Dr. Abhijit Patra, Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry, IISER Bhopal, has tested these polymers in powder form for the removal of polar organic micropollutants removal at a laboratory scale. He believes large-scale fabrication of the...

The Future of Live-Audio in India!

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How Gamification Might Just Change Learning Forever!

Prasanth is the co-founder of Upepo, a playful, project-based learning platform for kids 5-12. He leads the product, focused on creating delightful learning experiences for families that add true value to their lives. Nithish is an experienced entrepreneur with a history of working in the education management & healthcare industry. He is passionate about Innovation, Problem-Solving & Strategy. Just like a game, children can experiment with new projects, try, fail, improve and learn. Upep...

The New "First Date"!

Mingout is built around the idea that the business will make money when you are happy. Because even though you may match just once, you go on dates more often. And that’s the revenue – your happiness is the business’s incentive, not your loneliness. Because with Mingout, you are not just finding ‘matches’. You are experiencing ‘dates’. And with added layers for safety and self-discovery, Mingout wants to make sure that you go on nice, happy dates. Doing things you love, with a hint of romance. A...

Saving the earth with sustainable packing

Making the planet a better place begins with making your surroundings clean. Much has been said in campaigns across the world about single use plastic and its's ill effects. The little conscious choices we make in the products we use and the packaging we choose adds to the change we all need to bring in eliminating plastic waste. This episode Ashutosh Manohar, Chairman of Action Alliance for Recycling Beverage Cartons (AARC), carton industry veteran, and currently the Managing Director of Tetra ...

Strengthening The Healthcare Sector With Tech!

While studying engineering around 2011 at BITS Pilani, which is located in a small city in North-eastern part of Rajasthan, Vaibhav Singh lived through the problem of limited healthcare access in rural towns. Vaibhav and his friends decided to start working on a database, which would list students’ parents who were doctors. The students could contact a toll-free number, which would connect them to the doctors in the database, who could help them out by understanding their symptoms. This formed t...

Could your parcels soon be delivered by DRONES?

Vikram Singh Meena is the founder of drone delivery startup TechEagle. Growing up in Kishanganj in the Tonk district of Rajasthan, a village with poor road connectivity, he saw his family and the larger community suffer due to want of access to better medical facilities. Losing loved ones to snake bites and accidents, Vikram was determined that this is a problem he would solve one day. This vision became a reality when he founded Gurugram-based TechEagle in 2015, which manufactures long-range, h...

The Future: Artists Using NFTs To Monetize Art

In this episode of tech for change listen to our host @offairwithkay speak with Uzair Merchant who explains- “Stardust is a tussle between two worlds where the character is desperate for an escape to find answers, only to learn life has a flow of its own. It is to be observed, not fought with - the idea that we all come from Stardust and to Stardust we shall return.”