Gandhinagar: With a defined focus on EV technology, Gujarat based iCreate had launched the maiden edition of EVangelise, a one of a kind EV innovation challenge to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in the country.

This initiative was launched with the aim of identifying and nurturing some of the brightest minds in the country to use the power of innovation in addressing key problem statements of the EV industry and bring innovation into mainstream as a collective force. Consisting of 3 stages – idea, design and build stage, across 4 sub- component categories, the challenge saw participation from 388 start-ups and innovators from across the country. The build stage was recently concluded with 21 start-ups shortlisted based on their prototypes which demonstrated real-world engineering and implementation skills. In January 2022, the qualifying teams will move to a grand finale with the top 3 winners getting INR 10 lakh, INR 7.5 lakh and INR 5 lakh cash prizes respectively, besides assured incubation support of INR 50 lakh each, market
connections and industry mentorship. The Innovation Showcase will consist of two events:

● ELECTRIFY YOUR FUTURE PITCH where finalists will present their innovations to a jury comprising top
EV industry experts and VCs

● EV EXPO: Featuring innovations from EV companies, electric sub-component manufacturers, and
also, the 18 EVangelise finalists

Electric Vehicles as one of our focus areas, we have experienced first-hand the technology potential in
this segment and are hoping to deliver high impact startups that can disrupt the EV industry in India
across segments. The aim is to set up a CoE where we can deliver end to end support and mentorship for
every idea that can be leveraged or relooked at for bringing the EV revolution to life.

The idea of creating a grand challenge unique to the EV segment in India stemmed from the estimated
increase in EV adoption in the commercial market. The reason why we launched EVangelise is because

we want to be an integral part in the country’s transition to EVs by developing sophisticated, energy-
efficient, and sustainable transportation solutions for the Indian market.

The intent is to bring all the key stakeholders in the EV ecosystem – innovators, ecosystem players,
government, and academia together to bring about a huge disruption in the current way the market is
functioning, and we believe that the impact generated from this initiative will be the catalyst to transform India into a world leader in 2W / 3W EV’s over a 3-to-5-year time span.

This year’s Vibrant Guajrat Technology and Startup Summit focuses on ‘From Aatmanirbhar Gujarat to
Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. This is in line with what iCreate is envisioning to accomplish through consistent
and strategic interventions across all stages of a startup – starting from ideation to market entry,
enabling a thriving startup ecosystem for India, from Gujarat.

iCreate (International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology) is an autonomous centre of
excellence of the Government of Gujarat and is India’s largest institution for transforming startups based on tech innovation into successful businesses. Located in a state-of-the-art 40-acre campus at Dev
Dholera in Ahmedabad, till date it has supported over 412 innovations and 30+ patents with a ‘high-touch,
entrepreneur-first’ model, connecting them with mentors, markets and money. Embedded systems and
IoT are a focus area for iCreate, in domains like electric vehicles, agritech, smart cities, healthtech,
industrial automation, renewable energy, among others. It is home to Cisco’s largest Innovation Lab in
India, and has partnerships with leading institutions in the US, Israel and other countries.