The Qualcomm Design in India Challenge (QDIC) – 2022 aims to encourage Indian design houses and product companies to invent useful and innovative hardware product designs incorporating Qualcomm SoCs and technologies.

In its seventh edition, this design challenge continues to spur the domestic hardware ecosystem, which will positively impact the product ecosystem of design and enhance the manufacturing facilities in India.

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Benefits

• Shortlisted applicants will get an initial grant of INR 1.6 Lakh.
• Shortlisted startups that complete the Qualcomm review process will receive the second tranche of the initial grant of INR 1.6 Lakh.
• Also, One winner and two runners up with the most promising products will receive a cash award of INR 65 Lakhs, INR 50 Lakhs, and INR 35 Lakhs, respectively.
• Opportunity to be incubated at NASSCOM CoE for IoT for 3 shortlisted startups that will get a combined total of 30 months at a NASSCOM CoE for IoT at no cost.
• The program offers accelerator services, through a partner, to all shortlisted startups at no additional cost.
• One-to-one mentorship will also be available to the founders.
• In addition, all startups will be eligible for the following benefits for no additional charge:
  • 12 months of free software: MATLAB, Simulink, and 100+ add-on products
  • Each startup can avail of up to 10 licenses based on their team size and requirements
  • Full technical support (phone, email, online)
  • Training
    • Free: MATLAB, Simulink, and deep learning onramps, online self-paced tutorials
    • 50% off Training Credits usable for all online and public classes
• Opportunity to connect with MeitY/DPIIT in person; meet and greet sessions would be scheduled. Travel cost is covered by Qualcomm India.
• Moreover, fully funded participation at relevant industry events either by Qualcomm and/or its subsidiaries or those where Qualcomm participates

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Eligibility

• Individual startup companies that demonstrate Hardware as well as Embedded design experience
• HW design proposals must be focused on one of the domains – 5G Applications and NavIC use cases, Smart Infrastructure, Medical Technology, and Rural and Industrial IoT – regardless of the form factor of the product.
• Also, HW designs must be based on one of four available platforms.
• Only registered companies from India will be considered for further evaluation in accordance with the quality of work submitted.
• Students do not qualify for this challenge.
• Only one submission per company will be accepted.
• In addition, participating companies should have preferably established operations of a minimum of 6 months in hardware design and solutions.

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Selection Criteria

The selection parameters are the following but are not limited to:

• innovativeness
• utility value
• also, market relevance
• design compatibility with Qualcomm chipsets/platforms
• robustness of product design
• time to market advantage
• In addition, business potential

Timelines

• Application Phase (March 22 – May 1, 2022)
• Shortlist (May-June 2022)
• Hardware Incubation (July 2022 – February 2023)
• Finale (March 2023)