Indian Startup Kheyti Wins 27 Lakh Award In Israel

Kheyti, an Indian startup based in Hyderabad, has won a prestigious award and a cash prize of $ 42,000 in Israel for developing an affordable modular greenhouse. The aim of the modular greenhouse is to provide farmers with a steady and dependable income. Kheyti, along with Sukriti which developed a smart toilet cabin employing hygiene maintenance systems to enhance user experience in sanitation, were two of the top ten startup finalists in the MassChallenge Israel contest. The contest saw a participation of over 500 companies from 40 different countries. 

The agricultural startup Kheyti, provides technology solutions for small farmers using low cost farming solutions to help the farmers increase yield and predictability of produce. After a rigorous three month process, they shared the honor with an Israeli startup as the “diamond winners” of this year’s contest. Both startups were awarded a cash prize of $ 42,850. Speaking about the startup’s success, the Indian Ambassador to Israel, Pavan Kapoor said he hopes Kheyti’s win will motivate and encourage more Indian startups to innovate and work in the social sector and lead to a further collaboration between India and Israel.

Kheyti was started by Sathya Raghu V. Mokkapati and Kaushik K. The startup has 3 other members with strong entrepreneurial backgrounds who design and implement affordable and end to end farming solutions that help farmers increase yield and predictability of produce. The aim of the startup is to offer farmers a seamless path to increase their income by using innovative technological solutions. The team developed a modular greenhouse called the ‘greenhouse-in-a-box’ with full stack services that uses 90% less water and grows seven times more food while protecting the farmers’ crops from wind, rain, hail, heat and pests.

Since its inception, the startup has also won the People’s Choice Award at the Wharton India Startup Competition 2015 in Mumbai and bagged a prize money of $ 5000. Their greenhouse in a box solution was developed over the past eight months and according to co founder Satya Raghu V. Mokkapati, proof of the concept will be ready by the end of this financial year. The startup also plans to develop a model that suits multiple geographies and protocols to meet the farmer’s needs, over the next 2 to 3 years.

The MassChallenge Israel is a startup friendly accelerator that selects startups from multiple countries and works across a range of industries including future mobility and visual technologies, among others. This week, the company awarded $ 143,000 zero equity cash prizes to four of the highest impact startups from its 2017 cohort. The cash prize winners will have the opportunity to take part in the first MassChallenge Israel US Trek in November, which is a curated business trip to the innovation ecosystems in Boston and New York.