Bengaluru-Based Ark Robot Bags Rs. 2 Crores in QPrize 'Make in India' Contest

Warehouse automation startup Ark Robot was adjudged the winner of the QPrize Make in India contest, on Thursday, by a panel that included Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Qualcomm India president Sunil Lalvani, and Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan.

The Bengaluru-based startup secured $350,000 (roughly Rs. 2.3 crores) in equity funding as the winner of the contest, organised by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and chip maker Qualcomm Inc during the Make in India Week in Mumbai.

The prize was given by Qualcomm Ventures, an arm of Qualcomm Inc, and saw participation from nearly 500 startups.

Cardiac Design Labs, NexGear Technology, TeraFlight Data Labs, and Threye Interactive were the other finalists at the startup contest in Mumbai.

"India is number three in startups and we wish to make it number one in line with the Prime Minister's vision," DIPP secretary Amitabh Kant said.

"This is a part of Qualcomm $150 million committed investments in India when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Silicon Valley last year," Qualcomm Ventures vice-president Karthee Madasamy said.

"Through the India fund, we have so far invested in three companies and the winner of QPrize would be the fourth," he added.

Ark Robot offers three variants of its warehouse automation robot systems, which have an accuracy of 0.7mm and load lifting capacity of 250kg. Its robots have applications in automation of fulfillment centers and warehouses in the e-commerce industry.

Gurgaon-based robotics company GreyOrange is one of the most capitalised startups in the warehouse automation space, having raised $30 million in its Series B from Tiger Global and Blume Ventures in August 2015.

Written with inputs from PTI