Aiming to encourage young people to try something new and innovative within the country itself, Living with ICT organized Startup and Innovation Fest 2021. The event that happened in cooperation with F1Soft was held on Saturday of October 2nd, 2021 at Presidential Business School. In the event, the top 11 finalists of three ICT Award categories: Startup Award, Product Award, and Rising Star Innovation Award were present.
Innovation fest 2021 happened as part of the sixth edition of the ICT award 2021. Various distinguished representatives from government institutions such as the Department of Industry, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Communications and Technology, and Nepal Telecommunication Authority were invited for the grand event. Similarly, academicians, professionals, students, media, and others visited the one-day exhibition program.
A few months back the online nomination registration for the ICT award 2021 was opened for 11 different categories. Among the 11 different categories, Startup ICT Award, Product ICT Award, Rising Student ICT Award are the awards categories related to innovations and startups whereas Pioneer ICT Award, Nepali Diaspora ICT Award, Entrepreneur ICT Award, and Media Person ICT Award are given to the individuals. Likewise, the awards given to the government and private organizations include Digital Education ICT Award (Public Sector), Digital Education ICT Award (Private Sector), Digital Governance ICT Award (Public Sector), and Digital Governance ICT Award (Private Sector).
Among these categories, an overwhelming registration from 350 individuals and companies was received. The finalists were selected after two rounds for the Startup ICT award, Product ICT award and Rising Star Innovation ICT award. These finalists and companies showcased their products and innovation in the fest. A total of more than 40 startups were present as innovative stalls.
“Only one startup idea will be titled as the winner in each category. But every finalist here has innovative and impactful ideas. So, we have organised this exhibition so that visitors and the public knows about all the selected ideas,”
Razan Lamsal, Coordinator of the organisers committee.
The organizers stated that more than 2000 individuals visited the exhibition program. The event demonstrated ventures and Startup ideas related to agriculture, third-party logistics, local maps, edtech, vehicle rent, and tourism. They were also finalists for the above-mentioned three categories. Nirman Sathi, Rent a Bike, Puryau Services, Kheti, Agriclear, Mediflow Solution, PK Agro Blockchain, Mushoor, Open Past Paper, Dulwa, House of Book are among the finalists of the categories.
Participants who place in the top ten have been invited to the Startup and Innovation Fest. According to the organizer, the best 5 will be chosen by participating in the presentation and speed dating session. However, public voting and field visits will be conducted to choose the best from the top five. Likewise, the jury committee will advance the selection process in the other eight categories at different stages.
The main ICT award event will be organized on December 17, 2021, at the Soaltee hotel. This year, Rastriya Banijya Bank will bestow special honors on the award winners, including loan facility of up to Rs 1.5 million, investment opportunities in startups and ideas, and other important services and facilities. The winner of the Startup ICT Award category will receive Huawei critical services worth Rs 300,000 from Powered-by sponsor Huawei.
