After a successful first cohort, Shell announces second batch of E4 startups

The second edition of Shell India's cohort for its E4 programme has eight companies, including two Tech30 startups Mobycy and AutoVRse. 

To strengthen its position as a partner to energy sector entrepreneurs, Shell announced its second Indian cohort for the E4 (Energizing and Enabling Energy Entrepreneurs) Programme for 2019.

After careful examination and evaluation, eight startups have been selected for incubation at the Shell Technology Centre Bangalore (STCB), including two of YourStory's Tech30 startups. The finalist startups have strong differentiators in terms of product offerings and business models.

Nitin Prasad, Chairman of Shell Companies in India said, "After a successful cohort-1 of the E4 programme, we are scaling up by launching five tracks, to accommodate around 30 startups annually."

The eight startups are:

• igrenEnergi - igrenEnergi has developed a breakthrough Battery Management System which extends EV viability, by improving battery performance and enabling beneficial usage models. igrenEnergi's BMS uses proprietary deep-tech innovations which combine advanced power electronics, edge-computing algorithms and IoT + cloud- based intelligence.
• RightWatts - RightWatts is developing an Artificial Intelligence-led IoT platform for improving energy management and predictive maintenance of industries and critical buildings. The company claims that their platform determines avenues for achieving 10-30% operational efficiency with direct financial correlation to production losses and energy wastage.
• Ziptrax - Ziptrax aims to provide low cost, infinitely serviceable battery energy storage to the masses by re-purposing Li-ion batteries for 2nd use applications such as E-mobility and Energy Storage. Based on Ziptrax's proprietary Machine Learning technology, product hardware, intelligent plug-and-play SaaS, Ziptrax Batteries provide benefits of Li-Ion Battery but at the price of a lead acid Battery.
• TresMoto - TresMoto has developed smart, connected, purpose-built motorcycles and swapping infrastructure for niche markets. They offer unique business models, provide battery packs, battery swapping services and all other vehicle ownership requirements like Insurance, regular service, roadside assistance and consumables in one monthly subscription.
• Manastu Space - Manastu Space has designed a green propulsion system consisting of hydrogen peroxide based green propellant, engine associated with it and catalyst providing 40x less toxicity, 25% higher performance, resulting in up to 30% cost savings for satellite manufacturers.
• LogisticsNow - LogisticsNow is building the Digital Backbone of global Logistics to help customers develop a stronger technology enabled transportation and logistics business. The company provides advanced analytics, leading to better fleet utilization, service and cost savings.
• Mobycy -  MOBYCY is helping solve India’s last mile connectivity problem during daily commutes between home and office by providing specially designed electric scooters – Zypp; and cycles which can be found on the Mobycy app and unlocked by scanning a QR code to start the ride. Their proprietary keyless lock solution can convert any bike or scooter into a smart scooter and they already have 200K + users registered on their app.
• AutoVRse - AutoVRse helps enterprises develop VR/AR experiences used for design reviews, as sales tools, in experiential marketing and for virtual training. They provide premium VR/AR content by leveraging workflow with automated 3D model optimisation, proprietary lighting workflow and photorealistic library of materials and textures. The company boasts of a strong clientele including Bosch, John Deere, Fidelity and Abbott across India, Singapore, Australia, Germany and USA.

The cohort-2 startups will be incubated for six months at STCB's co-working space, after which, they will graduate from Shell on the E4 Demo Day - an entrepreneurship event, where the companies will showcase their products and solutions to stakeholders in the energy startup ecosystem.

Launched in 2017, the key role of the E4 programme is to accelerate technologies in the country, that fit India's transition. This year's finalists, consisting of startups in domains battery management, digital - AR/VR, mobility solutions, logistics energy management, operations efficiency and energy IOT applications, will be fostering the development of technologies at Shell.

"By partnering with a diverse set of energy startups across the entire value chain, we aim to give back to the ecosystem by becoming the 'partner of choice', leading the energy transition in India ," said Prasad, in a press release.

The startups under the second cohort of the E4 programme will be guided by mentors throughout the programme and will get to attend one-to-many and one-to-one expert sessions, executive series where industry leaders will share their journey and experiences, interact with entrepreneurs and investors, and receive $20,000 funding.

Unlike the 2018 E4 programme, that offered a single track for early stage startups, this year's programme will be offering five tracks - growth (for early or mid-stage startups), scale up (for mid or late-stage startups), international (for foreign startups willing to enter India), women entrepreneurship and finally, focus track to bring together groups of startups in digital, renewable energy, waste to fuel and e-mobility categories, among others.