Former DRDO Employees' Founded Nabhdrishti Aerospace Secured Rs 3 Cr in Funding from IIMA Ventures to Develop Fuel-Flexible Gas Turbine Engines

Nabhdrishti Aerospace, a deep-tech startup focused on developing indigenous gas turbine engines, has secured a funding of Rs 3 crore from IIMA Ventures. This funding is part of a pre-seed round and will be instrumental in supporting the company's ambitious project to design and develop gas turbine engines that are fuel-flexible, which means they can support clean fuels and enhance efficiency.

Nabhdrishti Aerospace was founded in 2023 by former employees of Gas Turbine Research Centre (GTRC) of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO),  Rohit Chouhan and Arjun Srivatsa. The deeptech startup's initial product, the ND350 Engine, is expected to be market-ready by Q3 2025. This engine will have a power output of 275 KW in turbogenerator mode and can be used for backup power generation, range extenders, and marine propulsion. When coupled with a propeller, it will generate 350 SHP, suitable for UAVs and air taxis.

The recent investment by IIMA Ventures, which has launched a deep-tech pre-seed accelerator fund with SIDBI, marks Nabhdrishti Aerospace as its first investment. This is a significant step for the company and highlights the growing interest in sustainable and efficient energy solutions in the aerospace sector.

Nabhdrishti is an innovative startup that specializes in developing and manufacturing micro gas turbines for aerospace and defense applications. The startup has made significant strides in propulsion technology and have been recognized for their achievements with the Startup Karnataka Elevate 2023 grant. Nabhdrishti's founders — Rohit Chouhan and Arjun Srivatsa, have previously worked at organizations like GTRE-DRDO, GE, and Rolls-Royce.

This year, Nabhdrishti Aerospace reached a new milestone by unveiling their inaugural office and embarking on new horizons. The startup is also known for their collaboration with IISc Bangalore and Prof. Dr. Saptarshi Basu, who fosters sustainable future developments. The leadership team, including CEO Rohit Chouhan, COO Arjun Srivatsa, and CTO Antanu Sadhu, is steering the company towards innovation in aerospace technology.

The company's focus includes designing and developing gas turbine engines, such as a 350 SHP turbo-prop engine intended for aviation and power generation use cases. These engines are designed to offer fuel flexibility, supporting clean fuels and enhancing efficiency. Nabhdrishti Aerospace's efforts align with the growing trend towards sustainable and efficient energy solutions in the aerospace industry.

For an uninitiated, Gas turbine engines have a wide range of applications across various industries due to their high power-to-weight ratio, compact size, and efficiency. These engines are highly versatile and can be adapted for use in a variety of settings, making them an integral part of modern mechanical and energy systems.

Gas turbines are commonly used in aircraft engines for propulsion. These are known for their reliability and ability to generate high thrust. It is also employed in power plants to generate electricity. Gas turbines can be used in combined cycle plants with steam turbines to improve overall efficiency.

Moreover, these turbine engines also find applications in marine propulsion to propel ships and submarines, offering high-speed travel and maneuverability. In Oil and Gas Industry, these turbine engines drive compressors and pumps, especially in remote areas or offshore platforms.

IIMA Ventures, formerly known as CIIE (Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship), is a dynamic incubator and accelerator associated with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad). Established in 2002 and rebranded in 2024, IIMA Ventures has been recognized as a Centre of Excellence by the Government of India's Department of Science & Technology and the Government of Gujarat.

Over the years, IIMA Ventures has launched several initiatives and programs to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. Some of their notable achievements include pioneering acceleration in India with iAccelerator, launching India's first climate accelerator Powerstart, and establishing the Bharat Inclusion Initiative & Bharat Innovation Fund. 

In 2023, IIMA Ventures introduced the Bharat Seed Fund, further expanding their support for startups. Their impact is evident in the success stories of startups that began their journey with IIMA Ventures and have achieved significant milestones, including acquisitions by major companies and going public. 

To Promote DeepTech and Science-led Startups SIDBI Setting Up ₹20 Cr Accelerator Fund with CIIE at IIM Ahmedabad

SIDBI, the principal financial institution for MSMEs in India, will set up a SIDBI Accelerator Fund at CIIE, a startup incubator established by IIM Ahmedabad, with an initial corpus of Rs 20 crore.

SIDBI is partnering IIM Ahmedabad as part of its new initiative "India of Tomorrow" under which it collaborates with different incubators in the country to promote deep technologies and science-led innovation by enabling seed funding to startups in exchange for equity.

The programme focuses on supporting startups with meritorious ideas and technologies important for India’s goals for 2047 to become self-reliant as well as a dominant player in high quality/ high entry barrier products/services.

The partnership would facilitate institutional seed investment in early stage viable and scalable ventures in future.

Sectors aimed to be supported include deep tech, hardware/ product startups, energy, clean tech, pharmaceuticals, biotech, defence innovations, rural, social and industrial technologies, high quality components, chips and other R&D driven startups.

During the program, six start-ups made a presentation on their ideas, methodology and the likely amount of seed capital required for scaling up their operations.

 

CIIE.CO Launches Innocity Startup School with Caspian Debt

Only 1 out of 10 startup businesses survive overtime

The startup ecosystem in India has definitely strengthened over the past decade with the rise in the number of incubators, angel community, and VC funds. But the question that arises is, have we created a holistic ecosystem that caters to all with complete support in every region.

Entrepreneurship might not run solely on theories or scientific methods, which makes a formal learning structure difficult to execute, but CIIE.CO, with its experience of more than 12 years in the incubation space, supporting entrepreneurs has understood that imparting best practices, sharing extraordinary experiences, and developing a holistic approach to deliver such workshops is the key to developing fundamentally strong startups.

The course has been developed based on the deep learning which CIIE.CO holds in the segment and comes as a pioneering effort from an incubator to formalise such an initiative. The pandemic has taught the industry that virtual interaction can be equally impactful and even friendlier as it becomes easier to have leading resources join the initiative without any logistical challenges.

The 10 week, 30+ hours of the live online workshop curriculum of Innocity by CIIE.CO takes the entrepreneurs through a journey beginning at the startup ideation, to growth, bringing different viewpoints from successful startup entrepreneurs, and industry experts who take workshops covering different stages of startup evolution.

At Innocity by CIIE.CO, entrepreneurs will have an opportunity to be in a community of like-minded people, and solve real-life challenges through hypothetical cases. The shortlisted startups will also get an opportunity to become a part of the CIIE.CO startup incubation and accelerator programs.

Avishek Gupta, Investment Director, Caspian Debt said, "We are excited about the launch of Innocity Startup School. It gives us a great opportunity to partner with CIIE.CO which has been on the forefront of entrepreneurship development. At Caspian Debt we have had an opportunity to work with over 140 professionally managed companies and founding teams consisting of first generation entrepreneurs. We have seen their trials and triumphs. Having a structured program such as this to cover different aspects of running a company and setting them up for scale and success will be a great support to entrepreneurs. CIIE.CO and Caspian Debt look forward to bringing this distilled wisdom for budding entrepreneurs especially from Tier 2 and 3 cities and women founders."

The inaugural program would induct 50 selected entrepreneurs from different regions of India and start by Jan 2021 with sessions happening every Friday and Saturday. With the support from Caspian Debt the program would be offered to entrepreneurs from tier-2 and tier-3 cities and women entrepreneurs at a scholarship of up to 90%. The applications are now open, to apply please click here


About CIIE.CO

CIIE.CO at IIM Ahmedabad helps entrepreneurs turn their ideas into viable businesses. In partnership with their mentors, corporates, development agencies, the IIMA community and investors, CIIE.CO cultivates a rare breed of entrepreneurs by incubating, accelerating, mentoring, and funding innovative startups. Over the years, CIIE.CO has played a multi-dimensional role in the entrepreneurial landscape of India. Its deep understanding of the evolving gaps, needs, and opportunities in the markets and the entrepreneurial ecosystem has enabled it to design initiatives that have attracted and supported the best entrepreneurs in various sectors. Among the various initiatives taken by CIIE.CO, the Bharat Inclusion Initiative supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, J. P. Morgan Chase, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and the Omidyar Network, has helped over 30 startups raising $34.2 Million that have gone on to serve early-stage entrepreneurial systems.

For further details, please visit www.ciie.co.

The third CIIE Concludes, $72.6 Bn in Intended Deals for the Coming Year Inked

SHANGHAI , Nov. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite the global market uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the confidence and interest that foreign companies have in the Chinese market appear unchanged, with the value of tentative deals reached for one-year purchases of goods and services at the third China International Import Expo (CIIE) hitting $72.62 billion , a 2.1 percent year-on-year increase.

The expo, which ended on Nov 10 , took up nearly 360,000 square meters of exhibition space, an increase of nearly 30,000 sq m from the previous edition. Nearly 400,000 professional visitors and over 3,000 Chinese and foreign journalists attended the event.

Statistics showed that 411 new products, technologies and services made their China or global debuts at this year's CIIE, according to Sun Chenghai, Deputy Director-General of the CIIE Bureau.

The Medical Equipment and Healthcare Products exhibition area accounted for over 120 technology and product debuts. The world's top 10 pharmaceutical and top 14 medical equipment manufacturing companies all attended the event.

Nearly 80 percent of the Fortune 500 Global companies present at this year's exhibition are repeat attendees. Consumer goods took up 90,000 sq m of exhibition space this year, the largest of all the sections.

Meanwhile, the Food and Agricultural Products exhibition area hosted 1,264 companies from 93 countries, the most exhibitors among all sections.

Over at the auto section, the latest products of the world's top seven carmakers were on display.

The Trade and Investment Matchmaking Conference, part of the third CIIE, borne fruit in both new deals and two-way investment. At the two-day event that ended on Nov 7 , 861 intended cooperation deals were inked.

The expo also featured a display of 100 world-class and national intangible cultural heritage items and 81 Chinese time-honored brands.

Hundreds of enterprises have signed up to participate in the fourth CIIE, which consists of six business exhibition areas — Intelligent Industry and Information Technology, Consumer Goods, Food and Agricultural Products, Medical Equipment and Healthcare Products, Automobiles, and Trade in Services.

First-time applicants will need to submit their company information at the expo's website www.ciie.org . Participants of this year's expo can renew their exhibitor status using their existing information.

The registration page for the fourth CIIE is as follows:

https://www.ciie.org/ciie/f/book/register?locale=en

After Supporting 30+ Startups, CIIE.CO's Bharat Inclusion Initiative is back with the 4th edition of FI Lab

For a long period now - more than a decade, IIM Ahmedabad's CIIE.CO has been working on incubation, acceleration, and seed-funding initiatives for early-stage entrepreneurs. The Financial Inclusion Lab (FI Lab), under the aegis of the Bharat Inclusion Initiative (BII), is a platform to accelerate startups building solutions for the underserved segment of Bharat by operating in the domains of Fintech, Skilling, and Livelihood.

Livelihoods have been disrupted, access to capital choked, and savings have been eroded amid the pandemic. Simultaneously, newer digital infrastructure is taking hold, and innovative products and engagement models are being developed. Keeping these struggles and disruptions in mind, the one-of-its-kind Bharat Inclusion Initiative is back with its 4th edition of FI Lab, to support startups aiming to create an impact through scalable, innovative solutions to support India's low-and-middle-income (LMI) segments.

What The 4th Edition has to Offer

Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, J. P. Morgan, Metlife Foundation, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and the Omidyar Network, FI Lab offers diverse solutions and customized support to each selected startup including catalytic capital of up to INR 25 lakhs for Product Development and Market Validation. The other key offerings include:

• Field Studies (Led by financial inclusion experts for consumer & market insights)
• Portfolio Support (Up to a year of providing market, channel, and investor connects) 
• Mentoring (Through clinics with LMI focused practitioners and domain experts) 
• Visibility (Through platforms and networks) 
• Service Partners (For cloud, marketing, and other support worth over INR 50 lakhs)

All these solutions will help test the startup's key assumptions, ascertain problem-solution fit, and develop its product for a successful pilot, and scale-up. The need to reimagine such solutions drives the Financial Inclusion Lab - this time with a special focus on building for resilience and relevance in the post-COVID world.

Priyanka Chopra, COO, CIIE.CO, says, "COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted the lower and middle-income communities in the country. Inclusive fintechs will play a key role in helping these communities respond and recover by providing innovative solutions that meet their liquidity needs, access better livelihood opportunities, save for the future and manage risks better. With the 4th edition of the Lab, we seek to deploy our considerable experience, expertise and networks to identify and support these solutions in their journeys to scale-up."


COVID-19 has significantly impacted lower-income communities, including segments such as micro-businesses, informal workers, farmers, and women. In collaboration with MSC Consulting (an international digital financial inclusion firm), FI Lab aims to accelerate select early-stage startups that are focused on developing tech-enabled solutions which can be used for the benefit of such underserved communities.

What kind of Startups are being sought

The program will be supporting technology solutions that help in improving the financial health and capabilities of underserved communities, with potential to impact at scale. Desirable solutions include innovative flow-based credit models, underwriting methods that leverage social behaviours, models leveraging SHGs, and other social capital aggregators to enhance womens access and usage of financial services, LMI-focused Insurtechs, and skilling and livelihood solutions that leverage fintech for unique value addition.

Through the FI Lab Accelerator, Bharat Inclusion Champions Program, and Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund, BII has already supported 34 startups. Startups supported by the initiative have cumulatively raised follow-on funding of $34.2 million from marquee investors and have served 14.5 million individuals and 13,500 MSMEs since joining the program.


The Bharat Inclusion Initiative invites applicants to be a part of Financial Inclusion Lab's fourth cohort - up to 10 startups will be selected for this 20-week long acceleration program.

To know more please visit here

About CIIE.CO

CIIE.CO is The Innovation Continuum. This continuum spreads across incubation, acceleration, seed and growth funding, and research. Founded at IIM Ahmedabad in 2002, as an academic centre, CIIE.CO has grown and pivoted to include acceleration, incubation, investment, research and publication. Overall, we have aimed at filling the multiple, ever-evolving gaps in the Indian innovation-driven entrepreneurship space in many ways. Among various initiatives, CIIE.CO has conceptualised and hosted India's first accelerator, created India's first and so far the only cleantech-focused fund, accelerated over 1000 entrepreneurs, invested in over 163 startups, inspired over 700000 with our publication - Stay Hungry Stay Foolish.

All the initiatives on the innovation continuum are aimed at supporting the fearless, innovation-driven entrepreneurs. Working with like-minded partners like corporates, government agencies, investors and academia, helps us push harder towards co-creating exponential change.

CIIE of IIM-A & US-based NGO Habitat Launch Startup Accelerator to Solve India's Affordable Housing Challenge

Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), an incubator of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), has partnered with Habitat for Humanity' India for the ShelterTech Accelerator which will focus on startups creating solutions for the affordable housing sector in India.

Atlanta, US-based Habitat for Humanity is an international, non-governmental, and nonprofit organization (NGO), which was founded in 1976. The NGO already has ShelterTech Accelerator in Mexico and Kenya with other partners, along with CIIE, aims at identifying and supporting innovative and scalable for-profit housing startups that can solve challenges affecting low income households, material suppliers, construction labor, developers and other key stakeholders in this sector.

The Accelerator, in addition to providing access to seed funds of up to Rs 75 Lakhs, offers selected startups intensive support in the form of customized problem solving, mentoring, access to global networks, along with the possibility of investments and an Investor Demo Day.

ShelterTech is designed as 4-month long support program and will support startups in two batches. The first batch of the top 5 to 6 startups will begin in December 2018. The second batch of 5 to 6 startups will begin by April 2019. The program ends in a demo day that will be organized in July 2019 for all startups of both the batches together.

The Accelerator will invite application in two phases; the first phase will remain open till the end of October. After the closer of first phase, a cohort of 4 to 5 startups with high potential to deliver disruptive changes in this sector will be selected for acceleration.

Interested startups can apply here - https://sheltertech.ciie.co/register

The #ShelterTechAccelerator offers intensive support to #startups solving challenges in the #AffordableHousing🏘️ sector. Get mentoring, funding💰 and more. Apply here👉🏻 https://t.co/HWmzqrh8Uk pic.twitter.com/aQCnnjY1kd

— CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad (@CIIEIndia) October 3, 2018

“The need in India matches the opportunities we see in such a large and diverse market. Through the ShelterTech Accelerator we hope to identify and support promising startups with the potential of transforming affordable housing markets in India,” said Patrick Kelley, Vice President of Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Housing.

“Affordable housing is both a tough and a complex problem that requires multiple partners to collaborate in innovative ways. Our partnership with Habitat for Humanity positions us to offer an unparalleled support system for founders working in this space. Founders will be able to avail financial support through seed funds, engage with the top domain experts and industry partners; and get access to global affordable housing ecosystem,” said Ashwin Joshi, Senior Vice President - Ecosystem, CIIE.

The accelerator has been launched on Saturday, at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi, where ecosystem players and sector experts from BrickEagle, Brigade REAP, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Atal Innovation Mission, Micro Housing Finance Corporation, Habitat for Humanity International, CIIE and others, gathered to share their insights and brainstorm on the challenges that constrict the housing sector in India.

In August, CIIE had also partnered with J.P. Morgan, a global banking and financial services provider, to set up a Financial Inclusion Lab (FIL) that will focus on early-stage fintech startups with innovations that address the unique needs of the lower and middle income (LMI) segment.

Besides ShelterTech, Brigade REAP is also real estate focussed startup accelerator in India, touted as Asia's first to focus on Real Estate. The accelerator, in May this year, on-boarded 5 Real Estate startups for its fourth Cohort. With over 80 start-ups having applied to the program, 11 Start-ups were shortlisted out of which 5 were inducted into the program.

Source - Economics Times

[Top Image - Proptiger.com]

CIIE of IIM-A & US-based NGO Habitat Launch Startup Accelerator to Solve India's Affordable Housing Challenge

Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), an incubator of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), has partnered with Habitat for Humanity' India for the ShelterTech Accelerator which will focus on startups creating solutions for the affordable housing sector in India.

Atlanta, US-based Habitat for Humanity is an international, non-governmental, and nonprofit organization (NGO), which was founded in 1976. The NGO already has ShelterTech Accelerator in Mexico and Kenya with other partners, along with CIIE, aims at identifying and supporting innovative and scalable for-profit housing startups that can solve challenges affecting low income households, material suppliers, construction labor, developers and other key stakeholders in this sector.

The Accelerator, in addition to providing access to seed funds of up to Rs 75 Lakhs, offers selected startups intensive support in the form of customized problem solving, mentoring, access to global networks, along with the possibility of investments and an Investor Demo Day.

ShelterTech is designed as 4-month long support program and will support startups in two batches. The first batch of the top 5 to 6 startups will begin in December 2018. The second batch of 5 to 6 startups will begin by April 2019. The program ends in a demo day that will be organized in July 2019 for all startups of both the batches together.

The Accelerator will invite application in two phases; the first phase will remain open till the end of October. After the closer of first phase, a cohort of 4 to 5 startups with high potential to deliver disruptive changes in this sector will be selected for acceleration.

Interested startups can apply here - https://sheltertech.ciie.co/register

The #ShelterTechAccelerator offers intensive support to #startups solving challenges in the #AffordableHousing🏘️ sector. Get mentoring, funding💰 and more. Apply here👉🏻 https://t.co/HWmzqrh8Uk pic.twitter.com/aQCnnjY1kd

— CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad (@CIIEIndia) October 3, 2018

“The need in India matches the opportunities we see in such a large and diverse market. Through the ShelterTech Accelerator we hope to identify and support promising startups with the potential of transforming affordable housing markets in India,” said Patrick Kelley, Vice President of Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Housing.

“Affordable housing is both a tough and a complex problem that requires multiple partners to collaborate in innovative ways. Our partnership with Habitat for Humanity positions us to offer an unparalleled support system for founders working in this space. Founders will be able to avail financial support through seed funds, engage with the top domain experts and industry partners; and get access to global affordable housing ecosystem,” said Ashwin Joshi, Senior Vice President - Ecosystem, CIIE.

The accelerator has been launched on Saturday, at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi, where ecosystem players and sector experts from BrickEagle, Brigade REAP, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Atal Innovation Mission, Micro Housing Finance Corporation, Habitat for Humanity International, CIIE and others, gathered to share their insights and brainstorm on the challenges that constrict the housing sector in India.

In August, CIIE had also partnered with J.P. Morgan, a global banking and financial services provider, to set up a Financial Inclusion Lab (FIL) that will focus on early-stage fintech startups with innovations that address the unique needs of the lower and middle income (LMI) segment.

Besides ShelterTech, Brigade REAP is also real estate focussed startup accelerator in India, touted as Asia's first to focus on Real Estate. The accelerator, in May this year, on-boarded 5 Real Estate startups for its fourth Cohort. With over 80 start-ups having applied to the program, 11 Start-ups were shortlisted out of which 5 were inducted into the program.

Source - Economics Times

[Top Image - Proptiger.com]

J.P. Morgan, CIIE-IIMA To Launch $9.5 Mn Financial Inclusion Lab in India for Fintech Startups in Early-Stage

Global banking and financial services provider J.P. Morgan has collaboated with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) affiliated Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) to set up a Financial Inclusion Lab (FIL) that will focus on early-stage fintech startups with innovations that address the unique needs of the lower and middle income (LMI) segment.

Under this US$9.5 million FIL initiative, J.P. Morgan has committed $7 million over the next four years while rest will be borne by IIM-A's CIIE. The initiative is aimed at identifying and bringing to scale early-stage fintech start-ups that are focused on helping people in India within the lower and middle income (LMI) segment who earn US$2-US$10 a day. The start-ups will enable access and usage of appropriate financial products and services such as savings, credit and insurance for LMI households.

The Lab is part of IIMA-CIIE’s Bharat Inclusion Initiative (BII), a program launched in May that aims to incubate and support start-ups that are focused on developing technologies that can be used for the benefit of underserved communities in the areas of livelihoods, financial inclusion, health and education. J.P. Morgan will provide up to US$7 million over the next four years towards this initiative. This would be the largest philanthropic commitment made by J.P. Morgan outside of the U.S. Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are also supporting the Lab as part of their overall commitment to BII.

The Lab will draw insights and learnings from the work performed by the JPMorgan Chase-funded Financial Solutions Lab, a five-year program launched in the U.S. in 2014 and managed by the Center for Financial Services Innovation. Over the past four years, this initiative has supported the development and scaling of fintech solutions that have improved the financial wellbeing of underserved communities in the U.S. To date, participating fintechs have reached over 2.5 million Americans and have seen their users grow 20 times since joining the program.

“India’s vision of creating digital technology driven access to financial services will be incomplete unless we bring these offerings to the lower and middle income segments who are in urgent need of these financial products and services. Our initiative aims to identify and nurture fintech start-ups to generate innovative ideas which will help make financial products and services more accessible to this critical mass of Indians. JPMorgan Chase’s Financial Solutions Lab model is being introduced outside of the U.S for the first time. We are pleased to collaborate with CIIE’s Bharat Inclusion Initiative to help establish it in India,” said Kalpana Morparia, CEO, South and South East Asia, J.P. Morgan.

The initiative will also glean insights from international financial inclusion consulting firm MicroSave and CIIE on where and how fintechs can help the LMI segment. Recent research conducted by CIIE and MicroSave revealed that LMI households have erratic financial inflows and many in the LMI segment struggle to adopt digital platforms for their financial needs. “Over 80 per cent of the addressable LMI market, or 470 million people, are not integrated into the economic mainstream. Early stage fintechs, when provided with the right mentoring, insights and capital support, can have a huge and positive impact on the lives of many people,” said Anil Gupta, Associate Director, MicroSave.

The Lab will host a series of accelerator programs to identify solutions for specific financial challenges, and leading ideas will be supported with start-up capital, market access, technical assistance, mentoring and sector expertise. Fintech entrepreneurs are now being invited to apply to join the Lab.

“The Financial Inclusion Lab is a critical component of the Bharat Inclusion Initiative continuum and will build upon CIIE’s decade long experience of running incubators, accelerators and impact funds to provide inclusion focused tech entrepreneurs the comprehensive support required to turbocharge their journeys. We are excited to partner with J.P. Morgan to create access and opportunity for more people to join the financial mainstream by unlocking entrepreneurial energy,” said Priyanka Chopra, COO, CIIE.

Last month, CIIE has made the first close of $150 million Bharat Innovations Fund, which was a href="http://indianweb2/2016/07/08/iim-incubators-plans-raise-150m-bharat-innovations-fund-invests-clean-tech-startups/">announced in July 2016.

In May 2018, the BII announced support from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and Omidyar Network towards backing start-ups leveraging the ongoing digital transformation in India to create access to services that were hitherto inaccessible for a large segment of Indians.

Additionally, in an another welcome move of a foreign nation towards Indian startups, Bahrain is also welcoming startups and venture capitalists from India to access it's startup ecosystem. Bahrains Economic Development Board has already set up its office in Mumbai to accelerate its fintech development program and even launched a new fintech fund to invest in Indian startups that have an economic interest in Bahrain.

Source - Business Wire India

J.P. Morgan, CIIE-IIMA To Launch $9.5 Mn Financial Inclusion Lab in India for Fintech Startups in Early-Stage

Global banking and financial services provider J.P. Morgan has collaboated with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) affiliated Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) to set up a Financial Inclusion Lab (FIL) that will focus on early-stage fintech startups with innovations that address the unique needs of the lower and middle income (LMI) segment.

Under this US$9.5 million FIL initiative, J.P. Morgan has committed $7 million over the next four years while rest will be borne by IIM-A's CIIE. The initiative is aimed at identifying and bringing to scale early-stage fintech start-ups that are focused on helping people in India within the lower and middle income (LMI) segment who earn US$2-US$10 a day. The start-ups will enable access and usage of appropriate financial products and services such as savings, credit and insurance for LMI households.

The Lab is part of IIMA-CIIE’s Bharat Inclusion Initiative (BII), a program launched in May that aims to incubate and support start-ups that are focused on developing technologies that can be used for the benefit of underserved communities in the areas of livelihoods, financial inclusion, health and education. J.P. Morgan will provide up to US$7 million over the next four years towards this initiative. This would be the largest philanthropic commitment made by J.P. Morgan outside of the U.S. Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are also supporting the Lab as part of their overall commitment to BII.

The Lab will draw insights and learnings from the work performed by the JPMorgan Chase-funded Financial Solutions Lab, a five-year program launched in the U.S. in 2014 and managed by the Center for Financial Services Innovation. Over the past four years, this initiative has supported the development and scaling of fintech solutions that have improved the financial wellbeing of underserved communities in the U.S. To date, participating fintechs have reached over 2.5 million Americans and have seen their users grow 20 times since joining the program.

“India’s vision of creating digital technology driven access to financial services will be incomplete unless we bring these offerings to the lower and middle income segments who are in urgent need of these financial products and services. Our initiative aims to identify and nurture fintech start-ups to generate innovative ideas which will help make financial products and services more accessible to this critical mass of Indians. JPMorgan Chase’s Financial Solutions Lab model is being introduced outside of the U.S for the first time. We are pleased to collaborate with CIIE’s Bharat Inclusion Initiative to help establish it in India,” said Kalpana Morparia, CEO, South and South East Asia, J.P. Morgan.

The initiative will also glean insights from international financial inclusion consulting firm MicroSave and CIIE on where and how fintechs can help the LMI segment. Recent research conducted by CIIE and MicroSave revealed that LMI households have erratic financial inflows and many in the LMI segment struggle to adopt digital platforms for their financial needs. “Over 80 per cent of the addressable LMI market, or 470 million people, are not integrated into the economic mainstream. Early stage fintechs, when provided with the right mentoring, insights and capital support, can have a huge and positive impact on the lives of many people,” said Anil Gupta, Associate Director, MicroSave.

The Lab will host a series of accelerator programs to identify solutions for specific financial challenges, and leading ideas will be supported with start-up capital, market access, technical assistance, mentoring and sector expertise. Fintech entrepreneurs are now being invited to apply to join the Lab.

“The Financial Inclusion Lab is a critical component of the Bharat Inclusion Initiative continuum and will build upon CIIE’s decade long experience of running incubators, accelerators and impact funds to provide inclusion focused tech entrepreneurs the comprehensive support required to turbocharge their journeys. We are excited to partner with J.P. Morgan to create access and opportunity for more people to join the financial mainstream by unlocking entrepreneurial energy,” said Priyanka Chopra, COO, CIIE.

Last month, CIIE has made the first close of $150 million Bharat Innovations Fund, which was a href="https://www.indianweb2.com/2016/07/08/iim-incubators-plans-raise-150m-bharat-innovations-fund-invests-clean-tech-startups/">announced in July 2016.

In May 2018, the BII announced support from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and Omidyar Network towards backing start-ups leveraging the ongoing digital transformation in India to create access to services that were hitherto inaccessible for a large segment of Indians.

Additionally, in an another welcome move of a foreign nation towards Indian startups, Bahrain is also welcoming startups and venture capitalists from India to access it's startup ecosystem. Bahrains Economic Development Board has already set up its office in Mumbai to accelerate its fintech development program and even launched a new fintech fund to invest in Indian startups that have an economic interest in Bahrain.

Source - Business Wire India

IIM-A Affiliated Bharat Innovation Fund Marks Its First Close At $50 million

Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), which had earlier announced its $150 million Bharat Innovations Fund in mid-2016, has made the first close of its fund at $50 million, reported LiveMint.

Bharat Innovation Fund is an early-stage, deep-tech and intellectual property-focused venture fund affiliated with the CIIE. CIIE is the fund manager for the entrepreneurship centre at Ahmedabad.

While in 2016 it was announced that the fund will be of corpus $150, CIIE is now targeting a $100 million corpus.

The fund, which will target funding pre-Series-A and Series-A ventures has managed to secure commitments from institutional investors, including corporates, banks, insurers and fund of funds such as SIDBI, ICICI Lombard, Philips, Bajaj Electricals Ltd and RBL Bank, the firm said in a statement.

The fund is managed by Kunal Upadhyay, Shyam Menon and Ashwin Raguraman, Sanjay Jain and Som Pal Choudhury.

“Indian entrepreneurs are producing globally-competitive IP-driven innovations across themes such as healthcare and biotech, agriculture, energy and enterprise tech, enabled by cutting-edge research and trends, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things and India stack, among others. Bharat Innovation Fund will catalyse these transformational deep-tech start-ups by providing them capital, access to market, strategic inputs and partnership connects,” said Kunal Upadhyay, managing partner, Bharat Innovation Fund.

CIIE has seeded over 200 start-ups across its various programmes such as iAccelerator, Power of Ideas, Powerstart, India Innovation Growth Program and Startup Oasis, among others.

In the past, CIIE incubated startups include Razorpay, Hashcube, Rolocule, and Thrillophilia, among others. In 2015, the centre had launched India’s first Food & Agri-Business accelerator for startups in food and agri-business sector.

In 2013, CIIE had launched India’s first clean-tech-focused venture fund, Infuse Ventures, which has backed start-ups across the clean-tech domain.

IIM-Ahmedabad Centre Launches $25 Mn Seed Fund To Invest in Tech Startups

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad’s (IIMA’s) centre for innovation, incubation, and entrepreneurship (CIIE) has launched a US$25 million seed fund named 'Bharat Inclusion Initiative', which aims to mentor and invest in early stage tech startups over the next three-four years, reported Economic Times.

The initiative will focus on incubating and backing startups that work in areas such as financial inclusion, livelihood, education and health.

With seed support from Tata Trusts, the initiative has received an initial commitment of $12.5 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and Omidyar Network. This includes a $5 million commitment for providing catalytic support to start-ups through a series of acceleration programmes, focused research, training workshops and piloting partnerships. In addition, CIIE will also invest in seed and pre-Series-A start-ups through a dedicated Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund - which announced its initial closing at $7.5 million, and is expected to make a final close at $15 million by July, 2018.

“The Bharat Inclusion Initiative aims to provide a continuum of solutions to inclusion-focused tech entrepreneurs across the pre-incubation, seed and scale-up stage and help them jump to the next orbit. It is heartening to see the support for this initiative from all the partners,” said Neharika Vohra, chairperson, CIIE Initiatives.

Pawan Bakhshi, India Lead, Financial Services for the Poor, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said, "At Gates Foundation, we are committed to creating a disproportionate and sustained impact on some of the most critical challenges facing the nation today."

Through in-depth research to build knowledge about the under-served, incubating new start-ups in this space and providing access to soft and patient capital as these ventures take root, the Bharat Inclusion Initiative will seek to catalyse entrepreneurs who are building disruptive solutions for Bharat.

According to Santhosh Ramdoss, director, India programmes, at the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, a large portion of urban poor families in India do not have any formal access to financial services. “We are presented with a landmark opportunity to take on this challenge, given India’s leadership in building a cutting-edge public technology infrastructure that can be used to seamlessly deliver a variety of critical digital services to low-income families."

Speaking about Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, in February, the foundation has led the $13.5 million (~ Rs 87 crore) funding of Bengaluru based edtech startup IMAX Program.

In August 2017, it was reported that the foundation is looking to launch incubator for startups in India. And for same, the foundation is reportedly in talks with IIM-Ahmedabad’s CIIE.

CIIE was founded to support entrepreneurs and turn business ideas into viable businesses models. It partners with industry experts, mentors, corporates, IIMA community and investors to help incubate early-stage start-ups.

In the past, CIIE incubated startups include Razorpay, Hashcube, Rolocule, and Thrillophilia, among others. In 2015, the centre had launched India’s first Food & Agri-Business accelerator for startups in food and agri-business sector.

IIM-Ahmedabad Centre Launches $25 Mn Seed Fund To Invest in Tech Startups

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad’s (IIMA’s) centre for innovation, incubation, and entrepreneurship (CIIE) has launched a US$25 million seed fund named 'Bharat Inclusion Initiative', which aims to mentor and invest in early stage tech startups over the next three-four years, reported Economic Times.

The initiative will focus on incubating and backing startups that work in areas such as financial inclusion, livelihood, education and health.

With seed support from Tata Trusts, the initiative has received an initial commitment of $12.5 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and Omidyar Network. This includes a $5 million commitment for providing catalytic support to start-ups through a series of acceleration programmes, focused research, training workshops and piloting partnerships. In addition, CIIE will also invest in seed and pre-Series-A start-ups through a dedicated Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund - which announced its initial closing at $7.5 million, and is expected to make a final close at $15 million by July, 2018.

“The Bharat Inclusion Initiative aims to provide a continuum of solutions to inclusion-focused tech entrepreneurs across the pre-incubation, seed and scale-up stage and help them jump to the next orbit. It is heartening to see the support for this initiative from all the partners,” said Neharika Vohra, chairperson, CIIE Initiatives.

Pawan Bakhshi, India Lead, Financial Services for the Poor, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said, "At Gates Foundation, we are committed to creating a disproportionate and sustained impact on some of the most critical challenges facing the nation today."

Through in-depth research to build knowledge about the under-served, incubating new start-ups in this space and providing access to soft and patient capital as these ventures take root, the Bharat Inclusion Initiative will seek to catalyse entrepreneurs who are building disruptive solutions for Bharat.

According to Santhosh Ramdoss, director, India programmes, at the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, a large portion of urban poor families in India do not have any formal access to financial services. “We are presented with a landmark opportunity to take on this challenge, given India’s leadership in building a cutting-edge public technology infrastructure that can be used to seamlessly deliver a variety of critical digital services to low-income families."

Speaking about Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, in February, the foundation has led the $13.5 million (~ Rs 87 crore) funding of Bengaluru based edtech startup IMAX Program.

In August 2017, it was reported that the foundation is looking to launch incubator for startups in India. And for same, the foundation is reportedly in talks with IIM-Ahmedabad’s CIIE.

CIIE was founded to support entrepreneurs and turn business ideas into viable businesses models. It partners with industry experts, mentors, corporates, IIMA community and investors to help incubate early-stage start-ups.

In the past, CIIE incubated startups include Razorpay, Hashcube, Rolocule, and Thrillophilia, among others. In 2015, the centre had launched India’s first Food & Agri-Business accelerator for startups in food and agri-business sector.

IIT-M Incubated DeTect Technologies Secures Funding from IIM Ahmedabad's CIIE, Axilor Ventures, Others

An IoT tech startup, DeTect Technologies has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from IIM Ahmedabad's CIIE, Axilor Ventures and angel network Keiretsu Forum. According to ET reports, around 15 investors on the Keiretsu network invested in the company which was led by entrepreneur Anil Jain's AJ Ventures. This year, DeTech was part of Axilor's latest accelerator batch and is one of the few to have received funding from Axilor's fund.

The company plans to use freshly infuse funds towards R&D and expansion to cater international clients.

Commenting on the development, Ashwin Raguraman, a partner at CIIE's Bharat Innovation Fund told ET, “DeTect's IoT product for high temperature and inaccessible pipelines and other industrial assets is at the cutting edge of technology and demonstrates how deep technology, which is globally competitive, is being built out of India. We are excited to support DeTect in its journey from having a world-class product to becoming a world-class business.”

Incubated at IIT Madras’s incubation cell in 2013, the startup builds technologies for the heavy industrial sector for asset monitoring. The IoT startup was founded by alumni Daniel Raj David, Harikrishnan AS, Karthik R, Tarun Mishra and professor Krishnan Balasubramanian. The company had received initial funding from the IIT Madras incubation cell through one of its first clients ­­ Reliance Industries.

The startup who have a drone named Noctua now offered to nearly 10 leading organisations, including BPCL, HPCL and Tata, among others. Not only this, it has also developed an ultrasonic sensor called GUMPS which caters to the energy sector for inspection of pipelines through remote monitoring. The company is now planning to eye on international clients.

CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad Invests in Two HealthTech Startups - Doux Dentistry & Zeolr

IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) has invested undisclosed amounts in Doux Dentistry, an innovative dental care startup aiming to make dental care affordable & accessible for patients at their homes under the brand name Mobident, and Zeolr, an IoT based healthcare startup that is developing solutions to aid in better management of chronic diseases by patients and availability of information to physicians for regular supervision, revision and reinforcement.

With healthcare innovation being one of CIIE’s focus areas, at present, its healthcare portfolio consists of 9 startups across medical devices, e-Health, health-education and home care. These startups have enjoyed tremendous market response and continue to receive strategic advisory and mentoring support from CIIE.

Founded by Dr. Devaiah, a dentist with over twenty years of experience, and Vivek Madappa, a serial entrepreneur, Doux Dentistry, already has presence in 4 cities - Bangalore, Pune, Mysore and Ahmedabad. Lack of awareness and the consequence of neglecting dental health among the population, are barriers that they want to address.

Mobident’s “Dental clinic in a Suitcase”, the flagship innovation of Doux Dentistry, is an asset-light model designed to address the core challenges of dental care industry such as end-user experience and high cost of dental services in India. It’s first-of-its-kind model is one tenth the cost of setting up a new clinic and provides almost all the dental diagnostics and corrective procedures that are available in a dental clinic at the comfort of our own homes, offices, schools and hospital OPD’s.

For Mobident, it is an opportunity to derive cross learnings from CIIE and propel their business to the next level through active support in fund-raise and business development.

Vivek Madappa, Co-founder, Mobident said, ”Besides providing a startup with an excellent platform like ET Power of Ideas to validate their business idea, CIIE offers a startup credibility, visibility, exposure, and excellent connections backed by investments. We are grateful to CIIE for giving us an orbit shifting platform.”

Zeolr’s flagship product, RespirON, is a comprehensive modern approach to help asthmatic and COPD patients as well as their physicians come up with the best plan for managing their conditions. It is a three tier system that includes a device and a smartphone application (compatible with Android, iOS & Windows) connected to the cloud server that helps patients and physicians consistently monitor and manage their condition.

For Zeolr, CIIE comes with the much needed hands-on support to ease the hardships and mitigate the risks that most early-stage startups experience. The Zeolr team consists of 2 passionate engineers, Roshit Gopinath and Ajay Saini, who began working on their dream venture right from college.

Roshit Gopinath, CEO, Zeolr said, “Our mission is to conceptualize the application of latest technology into healthcare services. With support from CIIE, we hope to turn this mission into reality.”

J Salim Vali, Vice President (Investments), CIIE said, “CIIE-IIMA is delighted to invest in Zeolr and Mobident. These companies have immense potential and we believe that their innovative ideas will play a key role in solving few critical healthcare issues. We believe that the combination of India's mettlesome entrepreneurs and CIIE will play a key role in solving many complex issues. ”

With Mobident, CIIE hopes to test the waters in the homecare innovation space and foray into more asset light models that address key barriers in making healthcare ubiquitous, while Zeolr is poised to set in motion CIIE’s active involvement in Healthcare IoT. As a matter of fact, CIIE’s commitment to the sector also culminated in the launch of its first Healthcare Accelerator earlier this year, and is all set to bring a new set of market driven healthcare innovations by the end of 2016.

Image Source: ShutterStock

IIM-A Incubator Plans to Raise $150M Bharat Innovations Fund to Invest in Healthcare, Agriculture and Energy Sectors

IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) is poised to move forward with a new $150 million Bharat Innovations Fund which will focus on sectors like healthcare, agriculture and energy. The Infuse fund that CIIE launched in 2013 with a corpus of over $15 million, was only focussed on the clean energy and green-tech space.

Infuse Ventures’ entire corpus is likely to be deployed by year end, after which the Bharat Innovation Fund will kick into play, as per DealStreetAsia report.

CIIE is the fund manager for the entrepreneurship centre at Ahmedabad. It will shortly start raising the Bharat Fund.

Infuse has invested in firms like Internet of Things startup Altizon Systems Pvt. Ltd (in which Wipro Ventures Ltd recently invested), energy management startup Ecolibrium Energy Pvt. Ltd, and recycling firm Karma Recycling Pvt. Ltd. “Infuse has made 14 investments so far, including one company that has shut down. We have deployed more than 90 per cent of our first fund and are reserving the remainder for follow-on or bridge funding into our own companies this year,” Kunal Upadhyay, CEO, Infuse Ventures said. “New investments will be out of Bharat and Infuse will only support existing portfolio companies.”

Infuse Ventures’ investments are equity-linked structures, with the attempt to syndicate deals or bring in other angels or investors who are interested in the space. Typically the investments ranges between Rs 1- 10 crore. Infuse also helps its portfolio companies raise debt, and four of its investors are banks.

“Infuse is mandated to invest in entities incorporated in India and predominantly serving the Indian market. But we are very interested in sourcing technologies developed elsewhere that may have a large opportunity in India,” Upadhyay said while commenting on whether Infuse would be interested in overseas companies.

Other clean tech areas that CIIE is looking at is rooftop solar and solar as a service, along with water-tech. “There is significant resource efficiency potential in both these sectors, and it is possible for new business models to exploit this potential,” Kunal added.