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In line with the Government of India's vision to support start-ups in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi distributed awards to the winners of 'Ayush Start-up Challenge' organised by All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in association with Start-up India.

The challenge was launched on February 4, 2022. The main aim of the Challenge is to encourage early-stage start-ups and individuals working on innovations in Ayurveda and other alternative healing and medicine systems.

There were three entry categories for participating in the challenge -- Ayush Food Innovations, Ayush Bio-instrumentation (Hardware solutions) and Ayush IT Solutions (Software solutions). There were two winners in each of the three categories with a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh for the winner and Rs 50,000 for the runner-up. Overall, there were six winners.

Under the 'Food Innovations in Ayush Sector: Ready to Eat Nutritious Ayurveda Ahara (Food)' category Ayur Foods won the first prize for developing Therapeutic Ayurveda Nutraceuticals. Priya Nitin Gokhale bagged the first prize in 'Ayush Bio-instrumentation (Hardware Solutions) and Innovations in Healthcare' category for Thermoregulator for sudation chamber.

Nadipulse Prognostics Private Limited grabbed the first for Nadiyantra-pulse diagnosis in 'Ayush IT Solutions in the areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based solutions in Ayurveda Diagnostics, Virtual reality, Biosensors & Trackers'.

At the Global Ayush Investment & Innovation Summit 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the efforts of All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) in encouraging the growth of Ayush start-ups in the country and said: "There are immense opportunities for investment in the Ayush sector. The Ayush Ministry has been promoting the culture of traditional medicine start-ups and has received an encouraging response from the youth. The All India Institute of Ayurveda had organised the Ayush Start Up Challenge recently through its newly established incubation centre.

"The centre will offer technical know-how and expertise to budding entrepreneurs and startups to innovate and invest in Ayush systems. Since the beginning of this year, India has already seen 14 start-ups entering the unicorn club, and the day is not far when we will soon have a unicorn from the Ayush sector too."

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. (Dr.) Tanuja Manoj Nesari, Director, AIIA said, "I would like to congratulate all the winners of the Ayush Start-up Challenge. AIIA, being the apex body for Ayurveda in India, works under the guidance of the Ministry of Ayush and supports the growth of this sector in the country. Apart from identifying promising start-ups and rewarding them, we are also providing incubation support through guidance and skill development, which will go a long way in helping these start-ups realise their next phase of growth. Start-ups in India are growing at a phenomenal scale and Ayush could emerge as a leading sector for driving entrepreneurship and innovation."

The incubation support would entitle winners to tap into the vast knowledge and resource pool of AIIA across the three wings of the institute, namely research, academics, and hospital.

The 'Ayush Start-up Challenge' was open for participation from both early-stage start-ups as well as individuals as a group. A group of 3-5 individuals was allowed to participate in the programme.