Hardware start-ups get a leg-up at Intel Maker's lab

Intel started its Maker Lab in 2015 to help small hardware firms stabilise by helping them with prototypes and device testing.

Intel said it achieved higher success rates because of the method of choosing start-ups, which best suited their acceleration programme.

For instance, Jayalaxmi Agrotech has built an Agripole which helps farmers to download their agricultural applications in local languages at village fairs using the Intel Edison platform.

The Bellari-based firm provides timely information on crops to farmers on their apps for which it has set up a router in village centres. This enables villagers to download information without relying on data plans on their mobile network.

Another start-up, Klassik Klonec, has built an Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled Hydroponic system for growing vegetables on sand or water without using soil.

It involves growing green leaves and vegetables in households or industrial areas. The start-up has developed a box which is connected via IoT that maintains the temperature and conditions inside the box. The firm has various individual customers across India and a few from abroad looking to import the equipment to grow plants within an enclosed space.

Smartron, a Bengaluru-based original equipment manufacturer (OEM) start-up has come up with a product ‘t-phone’ and a ‘t-book’. It has its own ‘t-store’ to buy applications and has started selling products through online marketplace Amazon in India.

These firms, part of the nine of the 17 start-ups, have their products from the first batch of the Intel Maker’s lab.

 “We took people who really needed technological help and mentorship that could accelerate what they were doing. The start-ups selected not only needed space but a lot of equipments to validate and test their products,” said Jitendra Chaddah, senior director, strategy and operations, Intel India.

In addition, five start-ups are testing their products which would be launched in few months, while three are still developing their products.

Intel would continue to map these start-ups with respect to their own business units, irrespective of whether the products are in the server space or client or IoT or wearable space.