IITians sweep AB startup awards

BANGALORE: IITians have swept the inaugural American Bazaar startup awards, winning competitions held in New Delhi and Bangalore as part of the Washington D.C.-based publication’s two-city US-India Startup Forums.

IIT Madras mechanical engineering student Daniel Raj David, who co-founded DeTect Technologies, won the competition in Bangalore on September 3. DeTect Technologies, an IIT Madras-incubated company, builds technology to perform intelligent asset management for the industries through sensors and drones. DeTect has a team of 30 IIT students and alumni.

Kartik Nanda, who founded Sollink Systems LLP, was earlier declared the winner of the startup competition held in Delhi on September 1, during first leg of the Startup Forum.

“I am ecstatic,” said Nanda, a graduate of IIT Kanpur. “I was extremely pleased to have pitched the idea in front of the investors.”

SolLink helps small residential customers to design, order and manage their solar installation. The New Delhi-based startup, which has an initial market focus on residential customers in the city, is in seed stage.

The American Bazaar will announce the winner of the online business plan competition later this week. Both David and Nanda will be flown to the United States, along with the winner of the online contest to pitch before a large group of investors and raise funds. READ MORE…