Ayush throws open the start-up challenge

Kumaran P | NT

In line with the Central Government’s initiative to support start-ups, All India Institute of Ayurveda in association with Start-up India has launched the ‘Ayush Start-up Challenge’ to encourage early-stage startups and individuals working on innovations in the Ayurveda sector and alternative healing. Winners of the Challenge will receive both a cash prize and incubation support from the AIIA.

The Ayush market currently stands at a whopping $10 bn and is projected to see an impressive 50 per cent increase over the course of the next five years. The Ayush sector offers massive potential for exponential growth at a time when there is growing global interest in the field of ‘alternative’ medical practices. The Ministry of Ayush has taken numerous steps to promote the research and understanding of these practices that are indigenous to India and its history. All India Institute of Ayurveda is actively working towards creating an environment that fosters research and development and building of practices, technology and solutions d solutions to accelerate the adoption of Ayush practices. The ‘Ayush Startup Challenge’ is an important initiative towards realising this vision.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof (Dr) T a n u j a M a n o j Nesari, Director, AIIA, said, “We are building AIIA as an institution of eminence under the guidance of the Ministryof Ayush with three key wings of medical science under one roof – academics, scientific research and clinical practice. To fully realise the potential of the Ayush science, we need a thriving ecosystem with players operating across the entire value chain. This is where start-ups can play an important role in developing new solutions. solutions. The present initiative aims to not just identify promising start-ups and reward them, but also provide them incubation support through guidance and skill development, which will go a long way in helping these start-ups realise their next phase of growth”.

The ‘Ayush Start-up Challenge’ is open for participation from both earl t t t ll ly-stage start-ups as well as individuals as a group. A group of 3-5 individuals can come together to participate in the prog ramme. However, if selected, they would need to register a legal entity before the cash prize is disbursed to them.

There are three entry categories for participating start-ups – Ayush Food Innovations, Ayush Bio-instrumentation (Hardware solutions) and Ayush IT Solutions (Software solutions). There will be two winners in each of the three categories with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh for the winner and Rs 50,000/- for the runner-up. Overall, there will be six winners.

In addition, winners will receive incubation support from the AIIA. The incubation support will entitle winners to tap into the vast knowledge and resource pool of the AIIA across three wings of the institute namely research, academics and hospital.

Details of the three participating categories are as follows:

1. Food Innovations in the Ayush Sector – Ready to Eat Nutritious Ayurveda Ahara (Food): In this era of pandemic, the population at large is striving to consume more nutritious food, with less time to be spent in preparing it. The ready-to-eat foods are in demand at a wider scale and require minimum preparation or clean-up for the user. Innovation in this segment of food delivery helps in enabling consumers to enjoy a healthy lifestyle while keeping to their busy work schedules.

2. Ayush Bio-instrumentation (Hardware solutions) and Innovations in Healthcare: These innovations should enable breakthrough performance in terms of better outcomes, convenience, access at lower cost, reduced complexity and time required for the patient and healthcare provider. These innovations can be in the area of 3-D printed devices for Ayurveda Medical Technology products, Convenient care/Urgent care at a lower cost to patients, Telehealth, Panchakarma Instrumentation, Innovation in instruments used for pharmaceutical processing of Ayurveda drugs at lab scale, drug ATMs, Innovation in instrumentation for analysis and quality control of Ayurvedic drugs etc.

3.  Ayush IT Solutions in the areas of Artificial Intelligence-based solutions in Ayurveda diagnostics, Virtual reality, Biosensors and Trackers: Innovations in Information Technologies (ie ITs) have the capacity, more than any other medium, to facilitate various stakeholders of the Ayush sector achieve better outcomes. Innovations can be in the area of AI-based solutions in Ayurveda diagnostics, Virtual reality, Biosensors and Trackers, Convenient care/Urgent care at a lower cost to patients, Leveraging data to physician experience (during diagnosis and treatment and taking patient feedback), Databases, methods for identifying various phases of pharm