MAM
AddUp Networks & NikolEV wins Zypp Electric’s EVolve challenge season 2
Mumbai: Zypp Electric, a tech-enabled EV-as-a-Service platform, recently completed its EVolve Challenge season 2 aimed to support innovation-driven startups in the EV industry with minds working to shape a sustainable future. The winners, AddUp Network and NikolEV will receive a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and orders worth up to Rs 2 crore from Zypp Electric along with incubation & funding support.
This year’s challenge attracted an impressive array of startups, all passionate about creating a sustainable future and revolutionizing the EV industry. After a rigorous evaluation, two exceptional startups, AddUp Network and NikolEV, were declared winners.
AddUp Network is a SaaS-based logistics startup that aims to democratize the supply chain for SMBs and enable their growth through technology-driven logistics excellence and innovation.
AddUpNetwork director and founder Abhishek Prabhuda said, “Participating in the evolving challenge was a thought-provoking activity, with an experienced jury asking us intriguing questions. It made us rethink several aspects of our business model like the target market, and the ability to price and collect, which have now become the key pillars for AddUp Networks. The journey for AddUp so far has been an exhilarating roller coaster. We have been able to serve some of the big clients as well as the SMEs, and we continue to learn as well as evolve with them.
Our growth vision with Zypp Electric remains extremely exciting with the combination of a SaaS-based tech stack combined with the EVaaS operating model. It brings synergies like hyperlocal and e-commerce deliveries as well as new delivery methods like same-day and slotted delivery to the fore.” he added.
The second winner, NIKOL EV, is building India’s largest operational EV charging infrastructure with their self-developed and designed chargers. They have set up EV charging stations that provide uptime of 98 per cent against an industry average of 60 per cent.
NikolEV director and founder Arjun D Pawar said, “We are very happy to receive this accolade in the EVolve Innovation Challenge Season 2. We have been working tirelessly for the last 2.5 years towards shaping a sustainable future in the electric vehicle charging infrastructure landscape.
We are excited about the possibilities ahead between Nikol EV and Zypp Electric in shaping the future of clean mobility in India. Thanks to the whole Zypp team for providing a platform that propels the vision of startups like us.”
Zypp Electric co-founder & CEO Akash Gupta said, “With Evolve Innovation Challenge Season 2, we are reaffirming our commitment to foster innovation in the Indian EV industry. The first season of the EVolve Innovation Challenge, which was launched last year, saw participation from over 100 startups. Out of these, 4 i.e. Mechanify, Flo, TSAW & Mastiebikes were selected for funding and mentorship. This year, the challenge aimed to support even more participants and help them bring their innovative solutions to the market. We have our winners for this year, and I congratulate them for their efforts in working on innovative solutions to drive the adoption of electric vehicles and supply chains in the country. They are working diligently and we’re their growth partners to achieve their mission.”
The success of the previous season’s winners, including Flo Mobility, TSAW Drones, Mechanify, and Mastiebikes, highlights the tremendous impact of the EVolve Innovation Challenge. TSAW Drones, which specializes in drone deliveries for logistics, agriculture, and surveillance, praised the program’s support and mentorship.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
