Meet the three winners of the AWS ISV Innovation Cup

After a rigorous review and selection process, the top three winners of the AWS ISV Innovation Cup were selected by an eminent panel of jury members, and announced at the Amazon AI Conclave on January 28.

The AWS ISV Innovation Cup is aimed at empowering independent software vendors (ISVs) to accelerate product innovation, evangelise their ideas, and support them to launch their products. Participating ISVs had identified a real-world customer requirement or an improvement area in the current product offerings, and proposed an innovative solution by leveraging AWS’s Machine Learning (ML) services.

The process

Following the registration process, the ISVs went through a three-step process involving ideation boot camps, solution submission, and a jury pitch round. As part of the event, participating ISVs identified the problem statement, defined solution ideas, and submitted their solution architectures along with go-to-market business ideas. The solution ideas were reviewed by AWS and the top six ideas were then chosen as finalists to proceed to the jury evaluation stage.

The finalists pitched their ideas to a jury of industry experts through a virtual meeting. These included:

1. Ajeya Motaganahalli, Chief Technology Officer, Honeywell SPS India
2. Avnish Sabharwal, Managing Director, Accenture Ventures & Open Innovation
3. Manish Singhal, Partner, Pi Ventures
4. Sanket Dhurandhar, India Head - AI & Machine Learning, Amazon Internet Services Pvt. Ltd.

The jury then identified the top three winners of the AWS ISV Innovation Cup based on the following parameters:

• Innovation and Customer Impact
• Proposed Solution Architecture
• Go To Marketing Business Ideas
• Solution Idea Prototype

To that end, the winners of the ISV are:

Second runner up: Amagi Media labs

Founded in 2008 by Baskar Subramanian and Srinivasan KA, Amagi is a cloud managed broadcast and monetisation services platform that enables TV networks, OTT platforms, and content owners to transition to cloud technologies for their playout, delivery and monetisation needs.

First runner up: Capillary Technologies

Founded in 2008 by Aneesh Reddy, Krishna Mehra and Ajay Modani, Capillary helps businesses grow by helping them collect more data and insights on their consumers and businesses, and unlock greater revenues with the help of its AI powered consumer experience platform. It enables businesses to carry out more personalised engagement, better omnichannel buying experiences, and lasting loyalty.

Winner: Prime Focus Technologies (PFT)

Founded in 2008 by Ramki Sankaranarayanan, PFT offers Media ERP software and digital content services that helps businesses with automating content supply chain and digitally managing all aspects of their content operations. PFT’s solutions also help content creators enhance efficiencies, reduce cost and realise new monetisation opportunities.

What’s in store for the winners?

The winners of the ISV Innovation Cup will be mentored by AWS to build their ideas into minimum viable products that can be taken to market. They will receive support from AWS in turning the idea into a reality through technical mentoring, architecture reviews, and joint go-to-market (GTM) campaigns, among other benefits.