The winners were given cash prizes of Rs 10 lakh, Rs 750,000 and Rs 500,000 respectively, besides assured incubation support of Rs 50 lakh each, market connections and industry mentorship.

Based on the technological excellence and feasibility, market relevance and real-world implementation of their innovation, Bhopal-based Clean Electric - for their innovative fast-charging EV batteries, Bangalore-based Gremot Mobility - for innovation on energy recovery capabilities for EV motors, and Raipur-based MoWebber Electrocorp - for their indigenously designed BMS and motor controllers won the top three spots for EVangelise'21.

Anupam Jalote, CEO, iCreate said, “iCreate has now established itself as the place to be for EV innovators and start-ups. When jury members of the calibre of CEO Exide Leclanche, CTO Tejas Networks, CEO Ather and CTO Sona Comstar are surprised and impressed with the depth and quality of the top Indian innovators in the EV space. We at iCreate feel fulfilled - it has been a very long and hard 6-months journey to identify this talent - but we are humbled with their zeal and technical prowess. They will surely accelerate iCreate’s drive in helping India become a knowledge exporter and a superpower in the small EV space. My heartiest congratulations to all the winners and we look forward to working with them to help take their ideas into the market for further commercialisation.”

Thyagarajan Iyer, founding team member, iCreate said, "Entrepreneurship is a journey in itself and an enterprise will go as far as the entrepreneur wants it to go. What makes me glad is that I have been in this ecosystem for about 20 years now and it is encouraging to see so much passion and drive among young innovators and entrepreneurs in the country today."

The innovation challenge saw participation from more than 388 start-ups and entrepreneurs from all over the country. Out of these, 10 finalists were shortlisted for their grand finale where they made their elevator pitches to an expert panel of jury members. The jury comprised of industry leaders like Tarun Mehta, co-founder and CEO, Ather Energy; Stefan Louis, CEO, Exide Leclanche; Kartikey Hariyani, founder, TecSo Charge+Zone; Kiran Deshmukh, CTO, Sona Comstar; Kanwar Jit Singh, VP - Technology, Tejas Networks; Mayur Shah, Head of Business Development, India, Beyond Next Ventures and K Thyagrajan Iyer, founding team member, iCreate; Anupam Jalote, CEO, iCreate. The participants presented their proof of concepts (PoCs) and growth models, followed by a Q&A session.

K VijayRaghavan, principal scientific adviser gave the special keynote address. He said “I can see the extraordinary zeal in the entrepreneurs of today and to ensure that this is maintained and that they are moving in the right direction, it is crucial to connect them with deep domain experts from national and global ecosystems. Our country’s entrepreneurs need high quality mentorship at the individual level from a scientific and a techno-economic perspective. When it comes to the EV industry specifically, it is crucial that entrepreneurs connect themselves with global leaders and look at that as an opportunity and create a benchmark. That’s where we need organisations like iCreate that provide start-ups with required access to domain experts technologically, financially and techno economically and connect with industry leaders both nationally and globally.”

A total of Rs 88.5 lakh was awarded to the participants of EVangelise, across four innovation categories and three stages.