WhatsApp just awarded $50,000 to these 5 Indian startups

• WhatsApp and the Indian government’s Invest India program announced the winners of the ‘Startup India - WhatsApp Grand Challenge’.
• The contest received over 1,700 entries from across the country but only five startups ultimately won.
• Each of the five startups have been awarded a grant of $50,000 each to continue developing their ideas.

WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging service, collaborated with Indian government’s investment promotion agency, Invest India, to invite startups from all over the country for a contest involving prize money of $250,000.

Five startups — Medcords, Melzo, Javis, Gramophone and MinionLabs — outshined the rest winning a grant of $50,000 each.

The ‘Startup India – WhatsApp Grand Challenge’ was launched earlier this year to inspire entrepreneurs to develop solutions that have socio-economic impact on the Indian economy.

The contest received more than 1,700 entries from all over the country, which were then judged on the basis of innovative thinking, scale of impact and the ability to solve real problems faced by Indians.

Around 70% of the applications received were from startups that were less than 3 months old and in prototype stage. According to WhatsApp, this is an encouraging indicator of the vibrancy of startups in India.

Meet the final five that made it to the finish line in the ‘Startup India – WhatsApp Grand Challenge’: