Home-grown innovations: KabadiMan rides to Belagavi Tech Meet on Hoopoe Electric

The fourth edition of Belagavi Tech Meet was held in Belagavi, Karnataka on August 30. Entrepreneurs and young innovators participated in several sessions aimed at exploring home grown innovations and use of technology for social impact.

The theme for this year was ‘Tech for Human Impact’. The event brought together entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, and innovators to underline how tier-2 cities, like Belagavi, are driving meaningful technological change and creating solutions with global relevance.

Some home-grown innovative products were launched. They include

• KabadiMan – A door-to-door trash recycling service that rewards customers while promoting sustainability

• Hoopoe Electric – An urban electric bike designed and built entirely in Belagavi

• Zen AI – An AI-powered platform simplifying online advertising and marketing, making it easy

• BeTCA Assist – A flagship AI initiative by BeTCA to support companies operating out of Belagavi with tailored digital assistance

The evening began with a welcome address by host Amit Soundalgekar, followed by a presentation on the journey of Belagavi Technology Companies Association (BeTCA) and its impact by Gajendra S. Tripathi. Mr. Tripathi highlighted BeTCA’s efforts as a Section 8 non-profit collective of IT and ITeS firms, championing policy advocacy, ecosystem growth, talent development, and infrastructure needs. He cited BeTCA’s interactions with DST Secretary Abhay Karandikar, who praised the level of innovation emerging from Belagavi. He said KEONICS chairman Sharath Kumar Bache Gowda had responded positively about the establishment of an IT park and plug-and-play facilities to support local companies.

Kawal Arora, co-founder, DesiLLM, participated in a session on ‘Inventing the Future: How Founders Are Building Life-Changing DeepTech Products’. He spoke of his days in Tesla, his return to India, and his work on India-focused large language models (LLMs). He said his product aims to remove biases and make them suitable for Indian users.

Akash Kulgod, founder, Dognosis, a graduate of Cognitive Science at UC Berkeley, said he was working on a project to use dogs to detect diseases. His founded his start-up during the Covid-19 pandemic when he learnt that some dogs were used to detect the corona virus. He said that Beagles are most effective for such work, given their independent nature and right temperament.

In the second panel on ‘From Tier-2 to Global: Shared Learnings of Corporate Leaders and Entrepreneurs’, Leena Padihari , Alfanzyme Life Science, spoke of her entrepreneurial journey, that began with a small loan and has now scaled into a company nearing ₹50 crore in revenue. She shared how farmers are her main vendors and that Alfanzyme now supplies to over 200 sugar factories, and is expanding internationally.

Shekhar Gaonkar of PetCart explained how careful observation of pet indulgence trends inspired him to carve out a niche in the pet care industry, leading to the growth of PetCart and its innovative offerings.

Allah Baksh of Infosys Hubballi said that the key to growth is persistence. He highlighted how consistent effort leads to long-term success in corporate and entrepreneurial journeys.

The sessions were moderated by Aadil Bandukwala of HackerRank.