Four young teams walked onto a stage in New Delhi this week and walked off with a cheque worth two crore rupees. At the Grand Finale of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026, held on October 16, student innovators from Raebareli, Raipur, New Delhi and Hyderabad were named the winners of Samsung India’s flagship innovation programme, bagging incubation grants totalling Rs 2 crore and a fast track into the startup ecosystem.
The winning teams, QuantHunt, morphism, InnoBotix and Somatrace, were picked from entries that poured in from 648 cities across 28 states and seven union territories. Over six months, finalists went through 184 design thinking workshops in 135 cities, intensive bootcamps, prototype building and pitch evaluations before facing the final jury.
The four winning ideas
Each winner took home funding under one of the programme’s four themes, and together they read like a snapshot of where young Indian technologists think the country needs help most.
- QuantHunt (Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh): An AI-based cybersecurity solution that hunts for encryption vulnerabilities and helps organisations prepare their digital systems for the risks quantum computing could unleash. It won under the AI Living for India theme.
- morphism (Raipur, Chhattisgarh): An AI system that reads subtle facial expressions and behavioural signals to help autistic individuals better understand emotions, built for the Health and Education theme.
- InnoBotix (New Delhi): Sentinel, a solar-powered AI edge device that uses cameras, radar and seismic data to detect wildlife approaching human settlements and send early warnings, fitting the Environmental Sustainability theme.
- Somatrace (Hyderabad, Telangana): A wearable Internet of Things training tool that measures spinal angles and load during practice, helping precision-sport athletes and coaches assess injury risks. It represents the Sport and Tech theme.
More than just prize money
The Rs 2 crore is structured as incubation grants, not prize cash. All four teams will receive mentorship and incubation support at the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at IIT Delhi, where they will develop their prototypes towards market-ready products. Samsung describes the pathway as having the potential to turn the winners into startups of the future.
The judging itself carried serious weight. Winners were shortlisted by the managing directors of Samsung R&D and Samsung Design, alongside an external jury drawn from NITI Aayog, IIT Delhi, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. Samsung SWA President and CEO JB Park attended the finale, with Sushil Pal, Joint Secretary at MeitY, and Stefan Priesner, UN Resident Coordinator, also present.
Ideas from beyond the metros
One detail from this year’s edition stands out. More than 50 per cent of the ideas came from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, according to Samsung, and two of the four winning teams, QuantHunt from Raebareli and morphism from Raipur, come from exactly those towns. The programme also ran an Investor Meet for the Top 20 teams, who additionally received Rs 20 lakh in grants and a smartphone for every member, giving promising ideas a shot at real funding even without the top prize.
A fifth year, and a bigger pipeline
Solve for Tomorrow is now in its fifth edition in India and is part of Samsung’s global programme. Since 2022, around 80,000 students in India have taken part, using science, technology, engineering and mathematics to identify problems in their own communities and build solutions around them.
For the winners, the next chapter starts at IIT Delhi. Whether Sentinel ends up guarding forest-edge villages, morphism ends up in special-needs classrooms, or QuantHunt ends up hardening corporate systems against quantum threats, the road from a student prototype to a real product is long. This week’s win gives all four teams a funded head start.
Frequently asked questions
What is Samsung Solve for Tomorrow?
It is Samsung’s annual innovation challenge for Indian youth, where students build technology-led solutions to real community problems across themes like AI, health, sport and sustainability.
Who won Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026?
Four teams: QuantHunt from Raebareli, morphism from Raipur, InnoBotix from New Delhi and Somatrace from Hyderabad, announced at the Grand Finale in New Delhi on October 16, 2026.
What did the winners receive?
Incubation grants totalling Rs 2 crore, plus mentorship and incubation support at FITT, IIT Delhi, to develop their prototypes into market-ready solutions.
How many entries did the 2026 edition get?
Entries came from 648 cities across 28 states and seven union territories, with more than half the ideas from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
How were the finalists selected?
Through a six-month process including 184 design thinking workshops in 135 cities, bootcamps, prototype development and pitch evaluations, judged by Samsung’s R&D and Design leadership plus an external jury from NITI Aayog, IIT Delhi, MeitY and the Principal Scientific Adviser’s office.
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