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The third edition of the CII Global Ayurveda Summit was inaugurated by State Industries Minister EP Jayarajan on November 21; 2018 at hotel Le Meridian, Kochi. The summit was held for three days from Novemebr 21 to 23; 2018. The summit featured four components – an international conference, exposition, a start-up contest and a focused business to business meeting platform. It enabled key players in the Ayurveda and related sectors to exhibit their products and services.

One of the major attraction of this Global Ayurveda Summit was the Ayurstart – the first ever Ayurveda Startup Competition in India. This startup contest attracted a lot of young minds to come up with out-of- the-box ideas in the Ayurveda sector. The main intention of the competition was to foster & ignite the passion for entrepreneurship in the Ayurveda community. The competition saw enthusiastic participation from students and young working professionals across the country, with more than 200 teams sending in their projects from a wide range of fields such as technology, diagnostics, geriatrics, IT/ITES, agriculture, education and genomics. Finally, ten teams with out-of-the-box ideas were shortlisted. These shortlisted teams got the opportunity to present their ideas at the Start-up Conclave, held as part of the Summit.

Ekavaidya Knowledge Services Private Limited was adjudged the winner of the contest. They received a cash prize of Rs 50,000/-. Doc@Door that aims to provide ayurvedic healthcare at home came second.

Other winning teams were:- Wioo Piking – aims to help build a farm in each home; En Sparks Systems Pvt. Ltd. – aiming in blending AI with Ayurveda; HealthKare.com – aiming to help people stay healthy during their senior years; Prajaatha – concentrates on caring for expectant mothers and women’s health; Ayurrekha – aiming to take ayurveda global; Ayurbhojyam – aiming to put the principle ‘Food is Medicine’ into practice. The best ideas will be mentored, incubated and also funded by the Industry. CII hopes to create 250 start-ups that collectively have a revenue of Rs.50 crores in the next 5 years.

On the final day of the summit, Governor of Kerala, Justice (Retd) P Sathasivam, gave the valedictory address. In his talk he expressed hope that Ayurveda would become a Rs 50,000 crore industry by 2025. Dr. DC Katoch, Advisor – AYUSH, Government of India gave the keynote address and stated that the Central government has been providing exclusive policy support for Ayurveda. Dr S Sajikumar, Chairman, CII Kerala State Council & Managing Director, Dhathri Ayurveda Pvt Ltd, in his address assured that the CII will work towards creating meaningful outcomes out of the deliberations held at the Summit. The Summit with the theme Mainstreaming Ayurveda through Start-ups and Brand, aimed at creating a paradigm shift in core Ayurvedic industries using technology as an enabler, to meet the increasing demand for Ayurveda. The Summit provided a unique platform for industry leaders to interact and exchange ideas. An exhibition of Ayurvedic products and services was also held as part of the Summit.

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