-   Pactera EDGE, a USA-based AI digital technology services company, today announced the launch of an AI Innovation Challenge in India, in partnership with IIIT Hyderabad

-   Targeting innovative ideas and start-ups in thematic focus areas under Computer Vision for Human Activity Detection, and Visual Inspection in manufacturing

-   With a 12 lakh grant for each selected start-up, the program will focus on enabling domain connection and market access for start-ups having AI solutions in the retail and manufacturing sectors

HYDERABAD, India  , May 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pactera EDGE, an AI and Digital technology company headquartered in Redmond, USA, today announced an AI Innovation Challenge for early-stage start-ups with technologies that can address problems in the Retail and Manufacturing sectors. Specifically leveraging computer vision for Human Activity Detection, Visual Inspection in manufacturing. Pactera EDGE has partnered with International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad( IIITH) for this initiative.

Pactera EDGE and IIITH are looking for start-ups with technologies addressing specific problem statements. The ideas include strategy, technologies, expected outcome and impact. Early-stage start-ups leveraging Computer Vision which have adjacent tech that can be pivoted to address retail or manufacturing problems. The program helps start-ups with Research connect, general strategy mentoring, specific domain use cases and problem identification, assistance through the solution pivot for this domain, and then connect with a few prospects globally.

Selected start-ups will go through a structured immersion program for four months  to help them pivot the product for specific domain use cases, enrich tech through inputs from research, and align with the market areas chosen by Pactera EDGE. They will also receive a INR 12 lakh equity-free grant.

''Pactera EDGE believes in reinventing customer experience using revolutionary AI technologies and give our customers the winning EDGE in the digital era,'' says Dinesh Chandrasekar, CIO, Pactera EDGE.

Pactera EDGE will also support these ideas with mentorship across spheres including technology, business strategy, design, and product development. IIITH will leverage its deep tech research capabilities and vast experience incubating start-ups to provide research and business mentorship to selected start-ups.

CIE at IIITH, over the past 13 years has incubated over 400 start-ups. And since founding T-Hub, has focussed on deep tech start-ups, specifically through accelerator programs like Avishkar and Ojas. In recent years the corporate accelerator programs have helped connect these early-stage start-ups with markets.

"CIE-IIITH is very happy to be partnering with Pactera EDGE for through market access program. As an early-stage incubator, helping start-ups with market access is the most significant challenge. And such corporate programs' help is  a key enabler towards this goal," said Prof Ramesh Loganathan, Head of Outreach, Professor of Co-innovation at IIIT Hyderabad.

More details  at https://cie.iiit.ac.in/pactera-edge-ai-innovation-challenge/

About Pactera EDGE

Pactera EDGE brings together data, intelligence, and experiences to deliver human-centric solutions to complex business challenges. Pactera EDGE is a consulting and technology services partner headquartered in Redmond, USA, offering inventive solutions in AI and Digital Transformation space, which includes Cloud, RPA, Data Monetization, and AI enablement services. With over 2800 employees worldwide and a 500000+ crowd-sourced global workforce, Pactera EDGE creates business value for Fortune 2000 companies by accelerating business innovation, enabling new growth, improving operational efficiency, and transforming the user experience.

About IIIT Hyderabad

International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, is a research university with deep tech capabilities and established centres of excellence focusing on natural language processing (speech and text), image processing, computer vision, machine learning, and applications of artificial intelligence to population-scale problems. IIIT's CIE is one of India's oldest incubators, has enabled 40+ start-ups and has raised $25Mn+ external funds for partner start-ups. For more information, visit  https://www.iiit.ac.in.

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