Kickstart your blockchain application development with support from R3

Have an idea or prototype for a blockchain application that solves a business problem? Over the coming months, R3 will host its first-ever Corda Challenge: India, an exciting competition where startups will compete to solve key challenges in the Indian market by leveraging Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). Participants will have the chance to accelerate the development of their solution and work directly with a team of industry experts from R3, Federal Bank, ICICI Bank and Microsoft. Winning startups will receive a USD 20k investment, a one-year Corda Enterprise license to support you in getting your application live, and an opportunity for a commercial pilot with our sponsors.

How it works:

Over three rounds, participants will be charged with pitching, designing, and developing a unique application built on Corda, R3’s open source blockchain platform, that solves for one of the three use-cases defined by the sponsors: Federal Bank and ICICI Bank.

Entries will be narrowed down to a handful of finalists who will present a full stack prototype of the application to a panel of judges. Successful finalists could win up to USD 20k investment from R3, in addition to continued support from our sponsors to help bring their product to market. What’s not to like?

Qualifications for entry:

• Your firm should be a technology startup that can address one of the business challenges listed on this page with a solution built on Corda, R3’s enterprise blockchain platform.
• Participation is open to teams working on applications at any stage of development, from ideation to those who have already built something.
• This is a country-specific challenge so your solution should serve the Indian market.
• Teams should be able to dedicate time and resources to the project. Please review the schedule and details before participating.

Challenge rounds:  

1. Round 1: Value Proposition (March 31-May 15)
   Get your pitch deck ready… The first round will evaluate how well your proposed solution addresses the challenge statement. Why is your approach the one to beat?
2. Round 2: Solution Design (May 25-June 19) 
   The second round will go one level deeper, reviewing the design of your solution (architecture and business model).  Can you demonstrate its business value? We’ll be looking for a clickable prototype and a short video with your design thinking.
3. Round 3: Implementation (June 29-September 4) 
   In this round, finalists will showcase a demo-able full-stack solution built on Corda.  Suit up – you’ll be presenting to a panel of senior judges to be considered for the grand prize! Location of the final to be determined.

Prizes:

• USD 20k investment from R3 (either in capital or professional services)
• Opportunity for commercial pilot with a sponsor
• A one-year Corda Enterprise license for one CorDapp (application on Corda)
• Recommendation for Microsoft Startup Program
• A speaking spot at R3’s annual conference, CordaCon

The challenge categories:

Participants will need to address one of the following pain points with their solution.

• Challenge 1: Contract Management System

Today’s contract management processes are broken. Systems are inefficient and rely on manual input, databases are unconnected and therefore don’t allow full lifecycle management. This results in processes that are error-prone and costly.

Speed, trust and efficiency can be increased by a system with in-built workflow and imaging functionalities and capabilities to interface with multiple systems, manage document lifecycle, manage litigation lifecycle with Business analytics, stored on an immutable ledger.

The solution to this challenge should offer single-window interface with advance search capabilities. It should allow drag-and-drop templates and also enable impact analysis with alerts due to external data e.g. new regulation or court order.

• Challenge 2: Vehicle detection and classification at FASTag toll booth

ICICI Bank receives thousands of images from FASTag toll booth operators for reconciliation due to improper classification of vehicle in FASTag records and the actual image clicked at the toll booth.

Currently, the Bank employs executives to manually inspect each image and detect if the image clicked has a vehicle in it or not. The type of vehicles is classified based on number of axles and other different parameters. If the vehicle axles are not quantified from the image, ICICI Bank employees simulate to the closest option available based on Agency Tag and Registered Hex Tag number.

ICICI Bank believes that using technologies such as AI and DLT, a new system can be created to process these images automatically, store and share them across organizations so efficiency increases and new sources of revenue can be generated.

• Challenge 3: Deep-Tier Financing

Today’s supply chains are riddled with inefficiency due to manual and paper-based processes but also through opaque and hampered information flow across layers in the supply chain. Supply chains often have 6 or more different layers or tiers but as information does not smoothly move between companies and systems, credit decisions cannot be based on realistic information. This drives up interest rates for lower-tier suppliers or even locks them from access to financing altogether.

Federal Bank believes deep tier supply chain financing can solve this problem. Seamless information flow, immutable records and a system trusted by different actors in the ecosystem can drive massive efficiencies and foster financial inclusion for small and medium enterprises across India.

• Challenge 4: Wildcard

Have a unique solution that doesn’t quite meet one of the challenge options? Submit a wildcard. Wildcard entries will be reviewed by all sponsors, and if considered could be chosen to move to the next rounds.

Challenge sponsors:
Community partners:

More info:

Have questions? We’re happy to help! Reach out to R3’s Venture Development team at venturedevelopment@r3.com.

We are now accepting first-round applications!