Hyderabad: A Hyderabad start-up has been awarded £440,000 (Rs 4.9 crore) in a UK contest launched during the pandemic, searching for digital and data-driven solutions to protect the world from future pandemics.
StaTwig based in tech hub Gachibowli has won joint third prize in the UK-based Trinity Challenge for its product VaccineLedger which tracks vaccine vials and other products on their journey from manufacturer to beneficiary anywhere in the world.
The platform, which uses blockchain technology and the Internet of Things, is able to track the location and condition of vaccines as they pass through different touchpoints at places like airports and hospitals.
Sensors monitor the temperature of the vaccine to see if it is about to be spoiled and users at touchpoints can send information about its condition too when they scan it.
“Three out of 10 vaccines do not reach their destination due to a failure in the supply chain.
We have reduced vaccine spoilage by at least 25% so far,” said 34-year-old founder CEO of StaTwig Sid Chakravarthy.
So far the platform has tracked nearly 20 million vaccines globally.
In India it is being used it to track vaccines in Telangana and he hopes to roll it out to other states and other countries.
“Blockchain is a decentralised network, so the manufacturer, government figures, implementation partners, donors can track every single product and find out exactly where it is.
If the temperature is increasing we send out alerts immediately– or if it is damaged we send out alerts to prevent costs of shipping it,” he explained.
His team of 25 staff had been working on the blockchain-supply chain solution for two years, thanks to funding from UNICEF.
At that time they were focused on the availability of vaccine to children.
“As soon as the pandemic hit and vaccines were coming out ,we realised our solution was in the right place at the right time,” added Chakravarthy, who obtained a bachelors degree from Osmania University and masters at University of Maryland, College Park.
He worked in the San Francisco Bay area for a few years before moving back to India in 2016 to start this company.
The prize money will be used to scale the solution up in other countries where it is needed.
VaccineLedger was one of 16 finalists in the Trinity Challenge, launched by Dame Sally Davies, master at Trinity College Cambridge.