Two startups selected for WEF list
New Delhi: Two Indian startups — Ahmedabad-based My Crop Technologies and SocialCops from the Capital — feature in this year’s list of ‘Technology Pioneers’ by the World Economic Forum (WEF) that recognised 61 early-stage firms from across the world for innovation.
The list includes firms working on blockchain for voting, AI for drug discovery, city-scale augmented reality and food-production improvement, a
statement said.
“Of the 61 early-stage companies recognised for their design, development and deployment of potentially world-changing innovations and technologies, a majority (54 per cent) come from outside the US, including many from emerging markets, and a quarter (25 per cent) is female-led,” it added.
The 61 chosen companies come from various countries including India, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Kenya and Morocco, as well as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
“Technology and startups are not just about computer software, consumer apps and social networks. Technology Pioneers 2018 are tackling complex challenges such as environmental sustainability, efficient energy use and access to healthcare,” Fulvia Montresor, Head of Technology Pioneers at the WEF, said.
SocialCops, founded in 2013 by Prukalpa Sankar and Varun Banka, allows use of data intelligence to confront critical global challenges. Its technology platform has been used for driving village development, tracking national welfare schemes, and optimising marketing campaign locations.
MyCrop is a technology-empowered agriculture platform that helps farmers by using machine learning for real-time farmer decision support and recommendations across the crop life cycle.