Ericsson Unveils Six Winners of Innovation Challenge 2026 at India Mobile Congress
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Khushi Jain
- October 8, 2026
At the India Mobile Congress 2026, telecom and network infrastructure company Ericsson unveiled the winners of its flagship startup competition, the Ericsson Innovation Challenge.
Launched earlier this year, the startup-focused competition aimed to identify solutions using 5G, AI and emerging connectivity technologies to address real-world challenges across sectors.
The challenge was organised in partnership with IAN Mentoring and Incubation Services and TiE Delhi NCR earlier in July. It evaluated startup innovations capable of developing 5G solutions that could demonstrate measurable societal impact.
Entries were assessed on parameters including societal impact, innovation, scalability and sustainability. Participants were also evaluated on how closely their solutions aligned with the problem areas they had chosen to address.
“At IMC, the winning innovations sit alongside our demonstrations of AI, programmable networks, differentiated connectivity and mission-critical networks, showing how the networks we build today can serve as a platform for what India builds next,” Ericsson India managing director Nitin Bansal said.
The company also highlighted the event’s focus beyond 5G towards 6G, including applications involving edge intelligence, sensing and collaborative robots. The broader ambition is to develop connectivity as an underlying technology layer for new services.
Startups That Won the Ericsson Innovation Challenge
Torchit
Founded in: 2016
Founders: Hunny Bhagchandani, Mohit N Chelani
Headquarters: Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad-based Torchit is developing affordable devices and AI-powered solutions for people with disabilities. Its products primarily address visual impairment.
These include Saarthi, a smart mobility aid designed to help users detect obstacles, and Jyoti AI Smart Glasses, which can read text, recognise objects and describe surroundings.
Skye Air Mobility
Founded in: 2019
Founder: Ankit Kumar
Headquarters: Delhi NCR
Dronetech startup Skye Air Mobility uses autonomous drones for last-mile deliveries.
Its platform combines drones with Skye UTM, an unmanned traffic management system that monitors flights, plans routes and manages airspace.
The company uses a Hub-Pod-Walker model in which packages are loaded at a central hub, transported by drone to a landing pod near the customer and then delivered to the doorstep by a ground worker or autonomous rover.
scanO
Founded in: 2020
Founders: Vidhi Bhanushali, Rajat Kabade
Headquarters: Pune
Healthtech startup scanO provides automated dental screening and diagnostic support.
Its scanO Air device uses computer vision to scan the mouth and detect 40+ oral conditions, including cavities, gum problems and suspicious tissue changes, in about 12 seconds.
Its AI is designed to support dentists rather than replace them, flagging potential issues for clinical review.
Okulo Aerospace
Founded in: 2019
Founders: Parithi Govindaraju and Abiseka Akash Ganesan
Headquarters: Bengaluru
Okulo Aerospace is developing solar-electric, long-endurance UAVs and High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellites (HAPS) for surveillance, monitoring, communications and data collection.
Its HAPS platforms are designed to operate at around 20 km altitude, while its lower-altitude UAVs target applications across defence, agriculture, environmental monitoring and disaster management.
Proxgy
Founded in: 2020
Founder: Pulkit Ahuja
Headquarters: Delhi NCR
Deeptech startup Proxgy develops smart wearables and safety products aimed at enhancing workplace safety and operational efficiency for blue-collar workers.
Its technology stack consists of three layers: an industrial IoT hardware layer, a software middleware layer and a SaaS subscription layer.
KissanAI
Founded in: 2019
Founders: Pratik Desai, Chintan P, Lokesh Desai
Headquarters: Surat
KissanAI develops agriculture-specific AI models and agentic AI systems for farmers and agribusinesses.
Its products include Dhenu, a family of agriculture-focused LLMs and vision models, along with a multilingual, voice-first AI assistant that provides farmers with crop advisory, pest-management and market-related information.
FAQs
1. What is the Ericsson Innovation Challenge?
The Ericsson Innovation Challenge is a startup-focused competition aimed at finding solutions using 5G, AI and emerging connectivity technologies to address real-world challenges.
2. Who organised the Ericsson Innovation Challenge?
The challenge was organised by Ericsson in partnership with IAN Mentoring and Incubation Services and TiE Delhi NCR.
3. How were the startups evaluated?
Entries were evaluated on societal impact, innovation, scalability, sustainability and alignment with the selected problem area.
4. Which startups won the Ericsson Innovation Challenge 2026?
The winners were Torchit, Skye Air Mobility, scanO, Okulo Aerospace, Proxgy and KissanAI.
5. What technologies were highlighted by Ericsson at India Mobile Congress 2026?
Ericsson highlighted AI, programmable networks, differentiated connectivity, mission-critical networks and developments beyond 5G towards 6G, including edge intelligence, sensing and collaborative robots.
