Harsh Mariwala starts Ascent to fund enterprises to scale up

ASCENT(Accelerating The SCaling up Of ENTerprises) ia new idea of Harsh Mariwala. Ten entrepreneurs will Form trust groups and support each other as self help groups. Applications are accepted now.http://www.ascentfoundation.in/

Indian innovators association USA charter

We have received useful suggestions on the priority areas for the proposed charter of IIA in USA. The emerging outline is : The local charter will operate as not for profit body. Objective is to support independent innovators in new product development, patent trading and team formation. The body would work in the people to people partnership area. The USA charter would be managed by local members with complete financial autonomy. Welcome More suggestions.

CIIE Present "The Power of Ideas" 2012"

The Economic Times, Department of   Science and  Technology and CIIE have once again partnered to continue   the efforts of  strengthening the Indian start up ecosystem. The  program aspires to identify and support the most innovative idea   and early  stage enterprises and support them through mentoring,   incubation support, cash  awards and seed funding. This year the corpus   of the program has been  increased to a total of INR 6.2 crore with 4   crore marked for seed funding and  INR 2.2 crore to be disbursed as cash  awards.  The program is sector agnostic  and hence wide variety of   start ups (including non tech start ups) can benefit  from it. 

To know more  about the programme: www.ideas.economictimes.com
To  participate in the programme, www.ideas.economictimes.com/participate. 
The deadline for submission of the  Business Summary Format is June 25, 6pm.
To know about  the eligibility requirements to be part of the evaluation or mentoring panel,  please drop a mail to Tinaj@iimahd.ernet.in. , Tina Jobanputra,  Program  Manager, CIIE

Queries:  If you have a specific query/feedback about the programme, share it with : 
Economic Times: etideas@indiatimes.com
CIIE : poi2012@ciieindia.org


   

CSIR plans to set up `Institute of synthetic and systems biology'

As per reports, DG, CSIR informed press of plans to set up a new institute called 'the Institute of synthetic and systems biology" and is looking for a suitable place.It aims to minimize or replace medication with right kind of foods by dipping into the vast traditional Indian knowledge systems. Apart from taking a hard look at regional food consumption patterns, the institute will drive home the importance of micro-nutrients in promoting health. “There is ample bacteria in the gut and the scientists are now trying to understand the foods that will help design bacteria within the human body to control many diseases. There are a number of nutritional pathways. Researchers are viewing the foods specific to each state and their genetic impact on people of those region,” said Prof. Brahmachari and added that this is where Systems Biology comes into the picture where the science of metabolites and haemostatic functions can be modified in the body itself.

Why MNC semiconductor firms cannot compete with Chinese Fabless chip vendors?

Vincent Tai boldly predicts that the days for multinational chip companies are numbered, especially in the Chinese mobile handset and set-top box markets. "It's because the supply chain in China can't allow you to have a 50 per cent gross margin," he explained. When the entire ecosystem of foundries, design houses along with packaging and system OEMs resides here, "You need to be a local to play the game," said Tai. The RDA chief described four rules for surviving in the Chinese market:

Rule #1: The "cycle time" for Chinese handset manufacturers is extremely short. While takes six months (or a year in the case of Nokia) to design a new mobile handset outside China, Chinese cell phone makers are spinning out new models every three months.

Rule #2: Chinese handset vendors provide chip suppliers will little information about market demand. Therefore, chip suppliers need to be "in touch with the market," said Tai, so they can be ready when market demand spikes. Speed is the key. "You need to be able to live with the ups and downs on the China market," he said.

Rule #3: Chip makers must survive on lower gross margins. Many local chip companies can live with a 35 per cent gross margin in order to achieve a 20 per cent operating margin, said Tai. But for most multinational chip companies to achieve the same 20 per cent operating margin, they need a 50 to 55 per cent gross margin. "That's no match with the locals."

Rule #4: System vendors in China are less technical. Hence, they require more hand-holding. The success of Taiwan's MediaTek here can be attributed to the turnkey solutions it offers Chinese system companies.

Tai said multinational companies retain a model that requires100 engineers to develop a new system every six months. "We are seeing Chinese system guys pump out a new product every three months with just five to 10 people." Tai said, "That's very disruptive."

Foreign companies are not only slow to upgrade their products but also are slow to respond to customer complaints. "I can send someone to my customer's site right away and do quick diagnostics," he said. "A multinational's core R&D team is still in the United States, and it takes more than a few e-mails back and forth to solve problems." Many in the West focus on the cost advantages of Chinese companies. Instead, they should be focusing on the agility of Chinese chip vendors and system companies in their domestic market. As Tai noted, "I am local. I have a core R&D team here, and I have field application engineers here. I have a huge advantage" over multinationals.

RDA increased its annual revenue in 2011 by 51.1 per cent to a record Rs.1,512.57 crore ($288.9 million), compared to Rs.1,001.05 crore ($191.2 million) in the previous year. The company's gross margin was 34.5 per cent compared to 29.8 per cent in 2010. In the first quarter in 2012, RDA's revenues totalled Rs.376.96 crore ($72 million), with a gross margin of at 35.9 per cent and a 20 per cent operating margin. The company has Rs.748.69 crore ($143 million) in cash and no debt. It currently employs 320 workers.

Source:  Junko Yoshida,   EE Times

Innovation in Indian Manufacturing- report by Aranca

The report prepared by Aranca for IBEF can be downloaded from IBEF site. 
This report was possibly commissioned to showcase India's innovations to the world. The report cites innovations such as E-Choupal, Ambuja Cements split-plants, Scorpio, TPM award for Brakes India, poly centric innovation model of Bicon, Chotukool, Tata Nano . 
I wonder whether this sort of report would improve perceptions of India's innovation capability! 

India bets big on Rajesh Biniwale' patent WO/2012/014225A2

According to reports, ministry of new and renewable energy ( MNRE) with goal of bringing one million fuel cell powered vehicles on the road by 2020 is supporting National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in developing a patented process of safe storage, transport and supply of hydrogen for such vehicles. The patent claim no 1:

An improved process for delivery of hydrogen, the process comprising dehydrogenating hydrogenated liquid organic compounds using catalyst in dehydrogenation reactor, the catalyst being heated at temperature in the range of 120-400°C, followed by separating hydrogen being evolved by cooling to temperature in the range of 2-50°C to obtain hydrogen free from any contaminant, wherein the catalyst are selected from: i. M/support wherein metal M is at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir, Os and said metal dispersed on support, the support is at least one metal oxide selected from the group consisting of Y₂0₃ or V₂0₅ or combinations thereof or ; ii. M-M'/support wherein metal M is at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Cu, Ag, Au; metal M' is at least one metal selected from Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir, Os, Fe, Ni, Re, Mo, W, V, Cr, Co or combinations thereof and said metals dispersed on support, the support being selected from the group consisting of activated carbon, alumina, alumite, zirconia, silica or combination thereof.