Alappuzha: A video calling app developed by Alappuzha-based startup company has given tech giants a run for their money. VConSol, the video conferencing app developed by Techgentsia, has won the innovation challenge conducted by the Union government to find an indigenous alternative to the controversial Zoom app.

Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced the results online. Techgentsia, located in Cherthala Infopark, is owned by Alappuzha native Joy Sebastian. Now, Rs 1 crore and a three-year contract for video conferencing by the central and state governments await Techgentsia.

The startup company bagged the historic achievement displaying better technical excellence than the Zoom app. 12 companies were shortlisted in the first stage of the competition. They were given Rs 5 lakh each to develop prototypes. Later, three companies were selected to the last round and given Rs 20 lakhs each to develop the app. After reviewing the three apps, the jury selected Techgentsia as the winner.

Over 50 colleagues of Joy at Techgentsia are also responsible for the achievement. An MCA graduate, Joy has been working in the field of video conferencing for several years now.

Joy started out with web audio conferencing at a company named Aavenir in 2000. He launched Techgentsia in 2009 and soon took up research and development activities in the domain of video conferencing for companies in Asia, Europe and USA. This is for the first time that Techgentsia is developing a product.

Govt’s challenge brought VConSol to the limelight

Joy Sebastian said that his product would have remained anonymous if the government did not introduce the challenge. “We had developed this technology earlier and the product that was presented in the challenge was the latest version which underwent trial and testing,” he added.

Over 100 can video conference at a time

There are several factors that make VConSol better than Zoom. Image quality will not be affected by the number of participants. Over 100 participants can attend a video conference at a time while over 300 can watch.

Joy Sebastian and Techgentsia claim that it’s 100 percent safe and can even be used by the military.