KSUM-fostered Inntot and iROV win National Technology Awards

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Digital radio solutions provider Inntot Technologies and underwater drone manufacturers iROV Technologies have won the National Technology Award, bringing credit to their mentor Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM).

The two KSUM-backed startups bagged the 2021 awards instituted by the Technology Development Board under the Union Department of Science & Technology in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise category.

The awards, announced on the National Technology Day on May 11, carry Rs15 lakh each and a trophy. The awards came as a huge endorsement of the robust startup ecosystem prevailing in the state.

Kochi-based Inntot, which provides high-quality and cost-effective digital radio receiver solutions, is based on the concept of software-defined and has its own patented improvisations. The seven-year-old company, started in February 2014 by Rajith Nair and Prasanth Thankappan, won the honour for successfully commercialising an innovative indigenous technology. The startup’s solution runs on ARM processors, sharply reducing BoM (bill of materials) and product costs.

The 2016-founded iROV came up with the country’s first underwater robotic drone that can send real-time video of ships and other underwater structures to help with their repair and maintenance.

Named EyeROV, the product can be navigated up to a depth of 50 meters to take high-definition visuals to examine ship hulls or undersea cables or bridge moorings, eliminating the need for costlier and riskier manual inspection by divers. The company is headed by its founders Johns T Mathai (IIT Delhi) and Kannappa Palaniappan P (IIT Madras).

KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala Government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.