New Delhi : The finalists of the Anti-Piracy Challenge, a pioneering initiative under the Create in India Challenge Season 1 of WAVES (World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit) 2025, has been announced. WAVE Summit is being organized by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India on May 1-4, 2025 in Mumbai.
The Anti-Piracy Challenge, which aimed at fostering technological advancements in fingerprinting and watermarking solutions, received an overwhelming response from the industry and participants. Launched on September 12, 2024, the Challenge was conceived with a core objective— to promote Make in India technologies in the fight against digital piracy. The challenge witnessed participation with over 1,600 registrations and 132 idea submissions from startups, technology providers, research institutions, and students across the country. After a rigorous multi-stage screening and evaluation process, 15 ideas were shortlisted, and now, following in-depth assessments by an esteemed jury panel, 7 standout finalists have emerged for their breakthrough innovations in digital content security.
The top seven finalists will present their solutions before the final jury and a live audience during the World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025, scheduled from 01–04 May 2025 at Jio Centre, Mumbai. The winners will be felicitated by at the Grand Finale of the Summit.
Finalists and Their Solutions:
| Team Name | Proposed Solution | Brief Details on solution |
| Aezowie Infotech Services Pvt. Ltd. | StealthGuard | An offline tool that embeds robust, hidden watermarks in media files, traceable even after
compression or format changes. |
| Atomstate | Monk DB | An AI-native vector database using fingerprinting and watermarking for real-time
content verification and piracy detection. |
| Nuronics | NuroTrace | A comprehensive video protection suite combining encryption, licensing certificates, access control, dynamic watermarking, and
piracy detection. |
| Guardians of Originality | PirateX | An advanced DRM and anti-piracy system
designed to secure multimedia content from unauthorized access and illegal distribution. |
| Hummingbird | Tryambaka | A blockchain-powered solution combining
blind watermarking and cryptographic hashing for tamper-proof content protection. |
| CipherCore | Secure Fingerprint Steganography
System (SFSS) |
A system that utilizes steganography and cryptographic techniques to embed secure fingerprints into digital media, enabling robust
piracy prevention. |
| WhiteHatLovers | Shadow Stamp | A marker-based tracking system using invisible,
uniquely identifiable markers to monitor and trace digital content in real time. |
Key Highlights of the Challenge:
- Focused on advanced technologies such as fingerprinting, watermarking, blockchain, and steganography
- Diverse participation from startups, students, and technology innovators
- Judged by a distinguished jury comprising industry experts and technologists
- Winning solutions to receive national recognition, mentorship, and industry collaboration opportunities
In today’s fast-evolving media and entertainment landscape, protecting the security, integrity, and authenticity of digital content is more important than ever. The surge in digital media consumption has heightened the risk of piracy, unauthorized distribution, and content manipulation—posing serious challenges to content creators, distributors, and rights holders.
A Media Partners Asia report estimates that 90 million users engaged in online video piracy in India in 2024, causing potential losses of USD 1.2 billion. Without effective robust anti-piracy interventions, this could rise to 158 million users by 2029.
Rights holders and broadcasters increasingly rely on technological solutions to identify, disrupt, and enforce their IP rights. However, criminal syndicates behind major piracy sites and services are continually adapting and obfuscating their infrastructure, making piracy detection and enforcement more complex than ever before.
This competition, designed to foster technological innovation in fingerprinting and watermarking solutions, reflects the growing urgency to secure India’s digital ecosystem.
The Anti-Piracy Challenge marks a significant milestone in India’s journey towards securing its digital future and encouraging indigenous innovation in critical technology domains.
The Challenge organized by CII as part of WAVES was supported by IPHouse, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Hack2Skill, who have played a pivotal role in the evaluation process and in facilitating industry engagement throughout the challenge.
About WAVES
The first World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES), a milestone event for the Media & Entertainment (M&E) sector, will be hosted by the Government of India in Mumbai, Maharashtra, from May 1 to 4, 2025.
Whether you’re an industry professional, investor, creator, or innovator, the Summit offers the ultimate global platform to connect, collaborate, innovate and contribute to the M&E landscape.
WAVES is set to magnify India’s creative strength, amplifying its position as a hub for content creation, intellectual property, and technological innovation. Industries and sectors in focus include Broadcasting, Print Media, Television, Radio, Films, Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, Sound and Music, Advertising, Digital Media, Social Media Platforms, Generative AI, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Extended Reality (XR).