Two Indian startups in WEF's tech pioneers' list

Two Indian startups -- Ahmedabad-based My Crop Technologies and SocialCops from the Capital -- feature in this year's list of 'Technology Pioneers' by the World Economic Forum (WEF) that recognised 61 early-stage companies from across the world for innovation.

The list includes companies working on blockchain for voting, artificial intelligence for drug discovery, city-scale augmented reality and food-production improvement, a statement said.

"Of the 61 early-stage companies recognised for their design, development and deployment of potentially world-changing innovations and technologies, a majority (54 per cent) come from outside the US, including many from emerging markets, and a quarter (25 per cent) is female-led," it added.

The 61 chosen companies come from various countries including India, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Kenya and Morocco, as well as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

"Technology and start-ups are not just about computer software, consumer apps and social networks. Technology Pioneers 2018 are tackling complex challenges such as environmental sustainability, efficient energy use and access to healthcare," Fulvia Montresor, Head of Technology Pioneers at the WEF, said.

SocialCops, founded in 2013 by Prukalpa Sankar and Varun Banka, allows use of data intelligence to confront critical global challenges. Its technology platform has been used for driving village development, tracking national welfare schemes, and optimising marketing campaign locations.

Their work spans different sectors with partners such as the United Nations, Government of India and Unilever. In 2017, SocialCops' data intelligence platform processed 11 billion data points.

MyCrop is a technology-empowered agriculture platform that helps farmers by using machine learning for real-time farmer decision support and recommendations across the crop life cycle.

It helps farmers reduce the costs of cultivation by using good agricultural practices and information customised for each farmer. The platform also brings different stakeholders in the agriculture ecosystem together to further enhance the industry.

These selected Technology Pioneers will meet at the WEF Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2018 in Tianjin, People's Republic of China, in September.

Some of them will also participate in the WEF Annual Meeting 2019 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, in January, the statement said.

"As leaders of innovation, they will be supported by the Forum's new Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and contribute to fostering the innovation ecosystem and delivering critical mass to solve global challenges," it added.