Numa launches innovation programme in Bengaluru

Paris-based startup incubator, Numa along with Karnataka government on Friday launched Datacity programme aimed at solving urban problems.

The 7-month-long international open innovation programme is jointly organised by Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and French utility company Suez. It is aimed at helping startups come with solutions for urban issues like water shortage, sewage, energy, and mobility among others.

The program is to co-create a problem statement, to identify relevant innovative startups from a pool of applications and to experiment the solutions that are crafted using data provided by the city of Bengaluru and the corporates.

The Karnataka government has signed an MOU with Numa while Numa is in conversation with BBMP for brainstorming and technical support. Numa has clubbed with the Department of IT/BT, Karnataka and BWSSB as well. While the project management will be handled by Numa, Suez will provide with an initial investment, resources, expertise, and data. BWSSB is to provide with expertise and human resource.

The areas of opportunity that could be explored during Datacity are- Smart Mobility, Water and Waste Management, Energy, Smart Buildings, Transparency & Security and pollution management, the release said.

"The startup which performs and functions well enough to solve the defined problems and remains consistent with their functionality will be funded Rs 2 lakh, " Anirudhan Thiyagarajan, Head, Corporate Innovation, Numa said.

Numa expects from their global network of 1,40,000 startups and the new to-be selected, mature and consistently-functioning startups to help come up with solutions, he added.

“70% of the world’s population will be living in cities by 2050. We need to address our urban challenges to build the cities of tomorrow,” Souad Tenfiche, CEO Numa Bengaluru said.

Numa launched the first edition of the open innovation program DataCity in Paris in 2015.