Chinese smartphone giant OPPO kicks off startup pitch day in Boston - PingWest

Chinese smartphone giant OPPO kicks off startup pitch day in Boston

Chinese smartphone giant OPPO kicks off startup pitch day in Boston

Rebbeca Ren

posted on August 2, 2023 0:07 am

The demos were intriguing: from foldable screens made from insects and shipping envelopes made from waste wool, to wearables that help low-vision users navigate independently.

On July 27, smartphone giant OPPO showed up in Boston, kicking off its annual “Inspiration Challenge”. Launched in 2022, the Challenge carries the mission of helping global startups bring innovative solutions to life.

Founded in 2004, OPPO is not only one of the leading smartphone brands in China but also has a strong presence in the world market, with a market share of 10% in the first quarter of 2023.

This year, the event goes bigger, with 3 regional challenges taking place in the US, China, and Thailand.

2023 OPPO Inspiration Challenge demo day, Harvard Club of Boston (Photo/OPPO)

Each region will select 15 top teams to participate in the demo event. The top 5 teams from each region will then be invited to the global final demo event in Singapore, where they will compete for a grand prize of $50,000.

Also, the challenge focuses on two aspects: “Inspiration for People” and “Inspiration for the Planet”.

“Inspiration for People” calls for technologies, products, and services related to digital health and accessible technology, while “Inspiration for the Planet” seeks innovative solutions related to environmental protection and low-carbon development as applied to consumer electronics.

At Harvard Club of Boston, the first stop of the Challenge, 15 entrepreneurial teams from the US, Europe, and Israel, showcased their products to judges from OPPO and the Ivy League school, as well as the media.

Group photo of the 5 regional winners with the judges (Photo/OPPO)

Based on four evaluation criteria—feasibility, innovation & originality, long-term potential, and social values—5 players stood out:

1. EyeLight: The Israel company is committed to helping low-vision users navigate independently in indoor and outdoor environments.

Screenshot of EyeLight's demo video

It is developing a wearable product that provides spatial information through hearing and touch in order to compensate for the visual gap of blind and partially sighted people and offer them independence in their surroundings. In addition, through EyeLight's smartphone-sized tactile surface, the users get a physical 3D illustration of their surroundings. With this illustration, they can touch, feel, and understand their dynamic surroundings in real-time.

2. Ixana: Based in the US, Ixana is developing a new wireless technology called Wi-R.

Screenshot of Ixana's demo video

Wi-R is a non-radiative wireless technology that transmits data using an electro-quasistatic (EQS) field, which makes it more energy efficient than traditional wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Ixana is still in the early stages of development, but the company has made significant progress: a prototype of a Wi-R chip has been developed, and efforts are underway to commercialize the technology.

3. Ommo Technologies: The US-based team that has developed Orbit, a next-Generation 3D tracking powered by permanent magnets.

With a plug-and-play, scalable architecture, Orbit claims it can be used to track a wide variety of objects, including surgical scalpels, humanoid robots, and everything in between. The company said that Orbit is the most scalable and efficient 6DoF tracking technology in the market. (Note: DoF stands for “Degree of Freedom”. The number before it shows how many different axes are being tracked.)

4. Smart Resilin: Headquartered in Israel, the company shares the same name with its product Smart Resilin, a bio-based material that is known for its strength, elasticity, and lightweight nature.

Made from a protein called resilin, which is found in the tendons of insects, Smart Resilin has the potential to be used in a wide variety of applications, including foldable phones, medical devices, and packaging materials. The company has created a prototype of a flexible electronic device using Smart Resilin and is actively pursuing the commercialization of this technology.

5. Woola: A US-based startup that has developed a new type of packaging material made from waste wool.

The company's technology uses a unique process to turn wool scraps into a strong, lightweight material that can be used to create a variety of packaging products, including bubble wrap, shipping envelopes, and insulation.

As you can see, the proposals of these five startups not only demonstrate their capabilities in terms of accessibility and sustainability, but also have some synergy with OPPO's hardware.

In addition to these five winners, there were 10 other startups with intriguing proposals:

HumanITcare: AI-powered remote healthcare solution for personalized and accessible medical care.

Mindpax: Digital health platform for psychiatric illnesses with wrist sensor, patient app, and doctor portal.

Doublepoint: Touch interfaces for AR/VR.

Nevare: Personalized digital solutions for mental health with game-based strategies and positive psychology.

SnoreFree Health App: Anti-snoring app with a personalized and scientific toolbox of therapies.

Glassless: A vision-correcting software-only solution for presbyopia that eliminates the need for eyeglasses when looking at digital screens for older users.

Eupnoos: Smartphone-based lung health monitor with AI analysis of breath sounds.

BeFC: Paper batteries with papers and enzymes for eco-friendly and low-cost IoT devices.

Atomics: Small molecules for data storage with high capacity and stability.

Entroview: Software diagnostics solution that optimizes battery testing with AI.

The 2023 Inspiration Challenge attracted 687 proposals from 66 countries and regions, a huge leap from last year's 536 proposals from 39 countries and regions.

This impressive growth underscores OPPO's unwavering dedication to supporting entrepreneurship and driving responsible technological advancements—a key aspect of their commitment to ESG principles.

In today's business landscape, ESG is critical in a variety of ways, such as meeting investor expectations, mitigating risk, enhancing brand value, ensuring regulatory compliance, attracting and retaining talent, fostering long-term value creation and providing a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

With a forward-thinking mindset, OPPO stands at the forefront, ready to take a critical role in shaping the future of the tech industry and creating a positive global impact.