Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Mumbai has gotten a strong foothold over the startup culture. With startups quickly becoming the driving force behind a country’s economy, it has become paramount for the universities to inculcate it in its environment. Somaiya University has its own in-house incubation centre, Riidl wherein the students can innovate and bring their startups to life.
UPI-enabled EV Charging Station
One such startup is a student-made, India’s first UPI enabled EV Charging Station which allows the customers to directly charge their vehicles by paying through UPI directly, thus eliminating the use of middlemen interfaces like apps and wallets. The startup, Ayka Control Systems is made by a team of seven students and boasts of instant refunds and ultra fast charging. It is incubated at riidl Somaiya Vidyavihar & is supported by NIDHI Prayas, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.
The core members of the team are last year students, namely, Mihir Bhanushali (22, electrical engineering), Jash Sheth (21, mechanical engineering) and Deesha Waranj (21, electrical engineering).
'Ayka people can get instant refunds within 90 seconds'
Mihir Bhanushali said, “Generally, people have to deposit money in wallets in order to charge their vehicles, with that money being stored in the account for further use. However, with Ayka people can get instant refunds within 90 seconds after the charging is complete.” He also added that with this people don’t need to input details of their vehicles. “You just need to scan the QR code, pay and connect the charging pipe to your vehicle, after which the machine will automatically detect your vehicle and charge it.”
Currently, these are deployed in four areas around Mumbai. One is in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) commercial parking area, two in Thane commercial parking and one more in the university campus. “We are also planning to launch these in societies so that more people can get access to them. Along with this, we are also in talks with ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) to install these in their government offices,” said Jash Sheth.
AI- and loT-based edtech platform
Another such startup is Offee, AI and loT based edtech platform that is especially designed for outcome based assessment. It helps the institute in converting academic assessments digitally without internet, computer lab or any sort of infrastructure. Students can simply connect to the network through their own devices after switching it to airplane mode for complete transparency and give the assessments. It also offers the students a skill map after the exams that takes them out of the traditional marking system.
'Offee used by 100 colleges'
The founder of Offee, Amit Shah is an alumni of Somaiya Vidyavihar University who established this startup through riidl is supported by NIDHI Seed Support System, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.
“Offee has been used by 100 colleges and has assisted in 30 lakh exams so far. We also did a project with the Gujarat government for zila parishad schools, wherein 80 school students gave exams without any internet or infrastructure,” he said. Shah also mentioned that he has been receiving great responses so far and the company is surely in the right direction. “I believe that students are much more than a report card and to know something more than that, students need data which only digitization provides,” he added.
“We already have the unicorn space in our college and provide the students with all the support they need. All the startups either pilot in the Somaiya environment or with our partners. We all are very proud of our students,” said Bhavna Pandey, Program and Incubation Head.
Riidl Somaiya Vidyavihar has incubated over 170 startups & facilitated in creating 600+ full time job and internship opportunities. The revenue generated by the startups is over Rs 290 Crore.
