An 11-member jury had to carefully weigh the pros and cons to decide between Pixel, a startup building a group of Earth imaging satellites, and fampe, payment provider and financial Services to teenagers.
After all, after an animated discussion on the potential of satellite imaging and its potential impact on many traditional sectors on the one hand and financial products for youth on the other, the jury members had no hesitation in selecting FamPay as the top startup. Emerged from a campus in India.
Established in 2019 by graduates from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Roorkee Kush Taneja And Sambhav JainFamPay has an ambitious goal of providing access to digital means of payment to one-third of India’s population under the age of 18.
It is trying to address this with strict parental controls and transaction limits with its digital wallets and prepaid cards.
FamPay’s product gained traction during the Covid-19 pandemic as it enabled teenagers to have a semi-digital banking account where parents could deposit ‘pocket money’ or other perks.
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The company already has over 3 million registered users. Jain said the victory confirmed his strategy.
“This will help us attract more talent, and indicate that we are on the right track. We are very happy and extremely humbled to be honored with this honour,” he said.
In June, FamPay
Raises $38 million in Series A funding, is one of the largest capital investments for such a round in India.
“I think they’re solving a problem I faced as college students, and they’ve expanded really fast. They’re educating students on money and finance to use cards , and it is very interesting,” said Nitin Kamath, founder and CEO and jury member, Zerodha.
Zerodha was judged
Startup of the Year in 2020 And
Bootstrap Champion in 2016.
Famppay in partnership with IDFC First Bank offers numberless cards through which students can make online and offline payments even without a bank account.
The company wants to be the brand of choice for millions of teens who use smartphones and the Internet for the first time.
Jury members GV Ravi Shankar, Sequoia Capital India managing director, and Y Combinator Continuity Fund partner Anu Hariharan withdrew from both rounds of voting as they are investors in FamPay.
other claimants
Pixel | Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal
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Pixxel is a space-tech startup that is building a group of hyperspectral imaging satellites that will be able to detect oil and gas leaks, determine crop and soil health, and air and water pollution levels. The company plans to launch its first satellite in October and the second in December.
Haystack Analytics | Anirvan Chatterjee, Gaurav Srivastava and Kiran Kondabagili
more techHaystackAnalytics is a provider of genomic-based diagnostic services for tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. Incubated from SINE at IIT-Bombay, the startup has developed a proprietary low-count genomic analysis platform that can sequence genomes in a matter of minutes. Its genomic based diagnostic test for TB has received regulatory approval in India.
e-plane company |
Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy & Pranjal Mehta
more techThe e-plane company is developing compact, affordable and battery-powered flying taxis to help citizens travel quickly into the future. Incubated at IIT-Madras, the startup’s business case hinges on short-haul flights as these require less battery capacity. Both have chosen electric based propulsion as it is cheaper than conventional fuel.
PepperContent | Anirudh Singla & Rishabh Shekhar
more techPepperContent aims to be the largest marketplace for content globally. It counts Amazon and Facebook as clients and works with major media firms, educational institutions, e-commerce, technology and pharma companies. It has started operations in the United States and is looking to expand aggressively in categories such as graphics design, language translation, video and audio content.