News

  • December, 2022

    Vidhya Y Receives National Award For The ‘Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities’

    As the first child to be born blind in Thirumagondanahalli village located on the outskirts of Bengaluru, Vidhya Y faced myriad challenges whether it be getting access to education or getting a job even after being the gold medalist at her college.

    Determined as a young child to not give in to her circumstances but use her challenges as an opportunity to create accessible solutions for children with visual impairment, Vembi co-founder Vidhya Y received a National Award on the occasion of International Disability Day on 3rd December 2022.

    She received the award for her exceptional work in the area of ‘Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities from the Honourable President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu.

    Looking back at her journey Vidhya Y shares, “I am humbled to have received the National Award for ‘Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities from the Honourable President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu on 3rd December 2022. These awards are the highest civilian awards for ‘Persons with Disabilities in India. My heartfelt gratitude to the Government of India for recognizing my journey and my work in making STEM education accessible for children with visual impairments.”

  • October, 2022

    Vembi is a Top 10 Grand finalist in Slingshot 2022

    Vembi is a top 10 Grand Finalists and domain winner in SLINGSHOT 2022

    competition held in Singapore on Oct 25-27, 2022

    SLINGSHOT 2022 attracted applications from over 3,600 startups across more than 150 countries. From there, Top 250 Global Startups were invited to join Virtual Corporate Mixer and put forward their best elevator pitch to move on to the next round.

     

    Through a rigorous evaluation, Top 50 Global Startups were shortlisted and flew to Singapore for our curated Physical Immersion filled with deal making and networking opportunities with corporates and investors from their respective industries.

    In Singapore, Top 10 Grand Finalists were selected after months of preparation and three days of intense pitching!!

    #SLINGSHOT2022

    https://www.switchsg.org/slingshot-top-10-finalists/

  • October, 2022

    Microsoft Accessibility conversation with Vembi on low cost innovations

    Microsoft Accessibility conducted a conversation with Vembi co-founders Rajagopal and Vidhya Y on the low cost innovations for visually impaired.

    In conversation with AI for Accessibility grantee, Vembi Technologies, Microsoft discusses the importance of low-cost assistive technology and their latest hardware innovation.

    In 2018, Microsoft announced the launch of AI for Accessibility, a five-year program dedicated to leveraging the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to create new assistive technology and solutions for people with disabilities. This program provides Microsoft cloud and AI technologies to those working to address some of the biggest opportunities for people living with disabilities. By providing grants, technology, and technical expertise, Microsoft aims to empower researchers, startups, nonprofits, and assistive technology companies around the globe to push the limits of what AI can do in accessibility.

     

  • September, 2022

    Vidhya wins NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Awards

    Vidhya is one of the 14 innovators who have won the 13th NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Awards.

    Vidhya winner of NCPEDP award

    More details here

     

  • April, 2022

    Hindustan Times: Interview of Vidhya and Anshumaan

    Hindustan Times interviewed Vidhya Y and Anshumaan about Vembi winning the Singapore Young Social Entrepreneurs Award.

    Details of interview can be read from here

     

  • March, 2022

    Vembi is a Singapore Young Social Entrepreneurs Global 2021 winner

    Vembi is one of the six winners in the Singapore International Foundation’s (SIF) Young Social Entrepreneurs (YSE) Global 2021 programme.

    Vembi was represented by Ms. Vidhya Y, co-founder and Anshumaan Agrawal, Sales and marketing lead in the programme. The finals were held after after eight months of intense learning and mentorship. Vembi stands to win  S$20,000 to help  scale up the social businesses. The 12 teams were from countries like Cambodia, China, Jordan, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore which were in turn shortlisted from 41 teams from 16 countries. In the lead-up to the finals called Pitching for Change, the young change-makers participated in a series of webinars and virtual business clinics.

     

    SIF Governor and YSE Global 2021 Lead Judge, Ms Ng Shin Ein, noted that there is a growing pool of tech-savvy youths globally who are driven by a keen sense of social purpose to create positive change.

     

    She said: “It is truly an exciting time for social innovation. Technology has created many opportunities for young entrepreneurs to make a difference in a sustainable manner. They have developed innovative solutions for pressing social and environmental challenges, with dual bottom lines of profit and impact. The SIF is proud to support these social enterprises in their journey to create greater social impact.”

     

    YSE Global seeks to inspire, equip, and enable youth from different nationalities to start or scale up their social enterprises. This SIF signature programme has, in its 12 years, nurtured more than 1,300 alumni of 42 nationalities and a global network of 628 social enterprises.

     

    Ms Vidhya Y, said: “There is so much to learn from the international social enterprise scene. We met many inspiring individuals and groups who shared their unique and innovative ways to make the world a better place through YSE Global.” Anshumaan Agrawal,  adds, “Their passion and drive to effect positive change are infectious. I am proud to be part of the YSE!”

    For more details: Singapore International Foundation

     

  • January, 2022

    Hexis in NITI Aayog, Atal Innovation Mission, GoI showcase of assistive technologies

    Atal Innovation Mission, in collaboration with NITI Aayog and Education Ministry of Government of India is organizing the Assistive Technology Innovations Showcase for Inclusive Education. Vembi is proud to be part of this showcase on 17th January 2022.

    🗓️ : 17th January, 2022

    🕰️ : 01:00 pm – 05:00 pm

    🔗: youtu.be/FTZDPR4Q1MI

  • August, 2021

    Hexis wins NASSCOM IAI award

    Hexis has won the NASSCOM Innovate for Accessible India award, 2020. Vembi was chosen under the Education category and is one of the four winners under the category.

  • May, 2021

    BENGALURU TECH SUMMIT (BTS) 2019

    Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS) 2019, was held from 18th – 20th Nov, 2019 at Palace Grounds. Vision Empower (VE) was given an opportunity to showcase Hexis in the IIITB pavilion. Over the three day event, several dignitaries and delegates from other countries Finland, Amsterdam, Belgium visited the VE stall and appreciated Hexis. We were honoured to showcase Hexis to Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja, Maharaja of Mysore.

  • March, 2020

    ELEVATE KARNATAKA 2020

    Vembi Technologies wins Elevate Karnataka 2020 organized by Karnataka Innovation & Technology Society, Department of Electronic, IT, Bt and S&T, Government of Karnataka for development of Hexis – the Braille Book Reader.

  • October, 2019

    BANGALORE’S IIIT DEVELOPING AFFORDABLE BRAILLE READER FOR STUDENTS

    Students who are visually challenged can enhance their learning experience with a new Braille reader which will easily fit in the palm. It is expected to hit the markets in six months. The aim of developing such a product in India, home to one-fourth of the world’s visually challenged population, is to help millions of such students be able to have access to affordable Braille technology.

  • September, 2019

    BENGALURU: AFFORDABLE BRAILLE READER COMING SOON

    Researchers in academia and industry have produced the prototype of an affordable Refreshable Braille Display (RBD) device. Terming it as ‘Kindle for visually challenged’, the new product will make braille reading affordable and easily available to students of global south.

  • September, 2019

    HEXIS, A KINDLE FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS SOON TO BE AVAILABLE IN SCHOOLS BY END 2019

    Among the assistive technologies on display at the Empower conference currently on in Sonepat is an e reader for visually impaired students. Called Hexis, this kindle for blind and low vision students is likely to be made available across many schools in India by the end of this year.

    A kindle for blind and low vision students that does not burn a hole in the pocket. Sounds incredible? That’s exactly what Hexis, a refreshable Braille reader (RBR), more easily understood as a kindle for visually impaired students, promises to offer.

  • September, 2019

    NEWZHOOK2019 – TOP 10 TECH INNOVATIONS OF 2019

    Hexis, a low cost refreshable braille reader is one of the top 10 tech innovations of 2019!