Nokia announces Open Innovation Challenge 2016 winners

NEW DELHI: Start-ups with innovative products focusing on the connected home, digital health and big data have taken the top three spots in Nokia's 2016 Open Innovation Challenge, beating a tough field of over 400 entries in a competition which looks for the next big ideas in Internet of Things (IoT) domains including public safety, connected automotive, industry 4.0, digital health, utilities, security and smart cities.

The challenge was organized in partnership with Nokia Growth Partners, which this year announced a USD 350 million fund for investments in IoT companies.

Nokia received several hundred submissions from around the world and after an intensive evaluation period, the finalists were selected. The 12 finalists were invited to Nokia's site at Paris-Saclay for a two-day workshop with Nokia mentors, followed by the pitching and award ceremony on October 21.

The first prize was awarded to CUJO for their firewall for the connected home, designed to bring business-level security to the home network. The second prize and investors' choice prize were awarded to iSono Health, who empower people to take charge of their health with early breast cancer detection. The third prize was awarded to Mobagel for their Decanter(TM) Big Data AI engine which automatically chooses the optimal machine learning model and provides the right actionable insights for marketers and executives. A full list of the finalists is available below.

"The Nokia Open Innovation Challenge is all about meeting innovators and thinking about how we can develop future Internet of Things uses cases together, simplifying people's lives, making industries more efficient and creating new business opportunities for operators and enterprises. I was extremely impressed with the high quality of our finalists, and would like to thank everyone who participated. Congratulations to the winners!" said Stephen Litjens, Vice President of Nokia Innovation Steering.

"For any company in the IoT space, a partnership with a large technology innovator like Nokia can make a significant difference. With more than 400 companies submitting their ideas, we are delighted to support this unique initiative fostering innovation and creating a unique opportunity for companies in the IoT space," said Bo Ilsoe, Managing Partner of Nokia Growth Partners.

The three winners will be able to join Nokia's Innovation Accelerator Program to incubate their ideas within Nokia, access Nokia's global market and network with investors. In addition, the three winners will share incubation prize money of up to 100,000 euros. Nokia will also consider go-to-market opportunities with the other finalists.