Turbostart Opens Applications for Cohort-II; 25 Start-ups have a Chance to Win Up to ₹2 Cr Funding Each

Post the success of the very first cohort of the Founders’ Fellowship Edition that was launched in October 2019, Turbostart opens registrations for its second edition from August 15, 2020 to September 30, 2020 

Turbostart, a leading sector-agnostic pan-India business acceleration platform that enables start-ups across the country to turn their budding ideas into functioning enterprises, has announced the launch of their second edition of the Founders’ Fellowship programme set to go live on 15th August 2020. The top 25 most promising start-ups stand a chance to win up to INR 2 crore each in funding and Turbostart will also aid them in business model validation, product strategy and positioning, market support, Product-Market fit, technology, architecture, scalability, access to customers and more. 

The programme that is conducted bi-yearly invites early-age start-ups who are looking for funding to kick-start their businesses coupled with all-encompassing mentorship. 

Winners will also receive mentorship by industry stalwarts who are a part of the Advisory, Investment and Governance boards of Turbostart like: 

1. Alok Sinha, MD, Frauscher Sensor Technology; 2. Aniruddha Ganguly, Management consultant and Leadership coach, ex-Executive 

Director, GMR Group; 3. Dr. Vivek Mansingh, General Partner, YourNest VC Fund; 4. G S Krishnan, Ex-Regional President/ MD, Novozymes; 5. K Ullas Kamath, Joint MD, Jyothy Laboratories; 6. Kalyani Devaraj, Co-Founder, CarexTech Inc; 7. Mohan Manthena, MD, SRK Infra Projects; 8. Muralidhara Chandrasekharamurthy, Partner, Murali & Co; 9. Narayanrao Ramaswami, Ex-MD Siemens; 10. Nirankar Saxena, Hon Deputy Secretary-General, FICCI; 11. R Natarajan, Co-Founder, Foundation Partners; 12. Shivkumar Janardhanan, Ex-CEO, Essilor Group (India and South Asia); 13. Sri. K. Jairaj, Retd, Additional Chief Secretary, GoK; 14. Sunil Bhumralkar, Ex-Partner, Ernst & Young; 15. Sunil Rao, Country Head - Corporate Business Development, Amazon; 16. Venkat Raju, Angel and Silicon Valley Entrepreneur; 17. Vish Sathappan, Director, Times of India Group - Brand Capital, India. 

Talking about the programme, Ganesh Raju, Founder and CEO, Turbostart said “The overwhelming success of our first Founders’ Fellowship Edition hosted last year has given the Turbostart Team an incredible impetus to bring back the programme, despite the pandemic being in play. We received over 1000 applicants from over 30 countries globally and 300 cities, including start-ups from different sectors like EdTech, HealthTech, IoT, and others during last year’s programme. Taking into account the current dynamic situation of the start-up 

ecosystem, funding has become even more challenging. Through the Turbostart Cohort programme, we aim to provide a recognized platform for budding start-ups and provide them with not only funding, but also encompassed guidance from industry stalwarts and advisors, which will help them kick-start their operations efficiently. We invite startups across the globe to showcase their concepts and business models so they can be future-ready and scale up their visions with Turbostart.” 

During the course of the application process, candidates will go through a multi-stage evaluation process by Turbostart’s experienced analytical team, followed by further evaluation from relevant sector specialists within their network. Turbostart will finally identify the most promising start-ups with the help of its Investment Committee, reward them and create an assured path for success. 

Turbostart aims to create synergies and put the country’s best entrepreneurs under the spotlight by acting as a transformative force for budding entrepreneurs. 

Sign up at www.turbostart.co to be a part of one of the largest business acceleration programmes and work with some of the sharpest minds guiding start-ups today. 

About Turbostart: 

Turbostart is a sector agnostic, pan-India business acceleration platform that will unearth the 25 most promising start-ups, twice a year. Run in a competition format, it enables pre-Series- A start-up founders to rapidly validate, scale and amplify their businesses. The vision of the programme is to build a strong start-up ecosystem by creating a clear path of success for entrepreneurs and eliminating the tedious task of dealing with market hurdles and non-core activities. Applications to the second edition of the Founders’ Fellowship open from August 15, 2020 until September 30, 2020. 

Lowe’s Innovation Labs Launches CONSTRUCT, Its New Startup Accelerator Program in India, and Announces Members of Inaugural Cohort

Seven Indian startups join CONSTRUCT by Lowe’s Innovation Labs, a stage-agnostic program designed to reimagine home improvement retail

Lowe’s Innovation Labs, the innovation hub of FORTUNE® 50 retailer Lowe’s Companies Inc., today launched the first Indian cohort of its signature, stage-agnostic startup accelerator program, CONSTRUCT by Lowe’s Innovation Labs. Seven startups from across India, representing a diverse range of interests including merchandising, AI-driven trend forecasting, automated content generation, talent acquisition, hyper real AI and sustainable next-gen home construction technology were selected after a five-city roadshow conducted earlier this year. 

CONSTRUCT is designed to be a flexible alternative to traditional corporate accelerators. Keeping with Lowe’s Innovation Labs’ mission to use exponential technology to accelerate experiences that customers expect today and to deliver tomorrow’s breakthrough capabilities, the program is open to deep technology companies of all sizes and at all stages. Programming centers around highly personalised, one-on-one working relationships, access to internal and external mentors, and an emphasis on working together to reimagine prototype and ultimately bring to market the future of home improvement retail. 

Participants in the first cohort include:

• Stylumia: A Bangalore-based startup focused on providing product insights through its AI-powered consumer-driven, demand-sensing engine for seen and unseen products 


• Infilect: A Bangalore-based startup with strong computer vision capabilities and AI platforms, helping brands and retailers in measuring, monitoring and improving retail processes such as product distribution, placement and sales.


• StoryXpress: A Delhi NCR-based startup with an end-to-end video marketing platform that enables brands and retailers to convert their e-commerce product catalogs into videos at a fraction of the standard time and cost.


• Headway: A Bangalore-based startup focused on talent acquisition powered by AI and behavioral science, helping talent acquisition teams function faster  with deep talent analytics.


• Siddhi.ai: A Bangalore-based startup focused on using AI to craft actionable insights from the vast, unstructured resources of the open web to help lifestyle brands and retailers personalise product decisions.


• Rephrase.ai: A Bangalore-based startup focused on building generative AI tools to make professional automated human-like videos with applications involving Hyperreal AI. 


• Nanospan: A Hyderabad-based startup focused on nanotechnology, producing graphene and nano composites with applications in building the next-gen homes, defence tech and energy storage. 

“India is home to a wide network of innovators developing solutions to global issues. We have set up CONSTRUCT as a way to partner with the brightest minds to reinvent home improvement retail,” said Abhay Tandon, Director – Innovation and Head of Lowe’s Innovation Labs – India. “CONSTRUCT provides startups of all stages and sizes with an opportunity to apply their solutions in a highly conducive environment.”

“We’re launching our signature start-up engagement program, CONSTRUCT, in India to reimagine and build the future of home improvement retail with startups that bring diverse, global perspectives,” said Cheryl Friedman, Vice President of Lowe’s Innovation Labs.

CONSTRUCT is designed around Lowe’s start-up partners, who receive personalised attention from functional and technical leaders at Lowe’s, as well as external mentors from venture capitalist firms, companies and enablers. 

“Our vision at Lowe’s India is to transform home improvement retail by building world-class experiences for our customers with the right products and technology,” said Ankur Mittal, Vice President Technology and Managing Director of Lowe’s India. “Our focus has always been to use deep technologies such as AI, analytics and robotics to power tomorrow’s retail, and CONSTRUCT will help accelerate that work.” 

The virtual launch event was held on 17th June 2020 with more than 5000+ participants, leaders and speakers from across the globe. Cheryl Friedman, Vice President of Lowe’s Innovation Labs from Lowe’s Global and Ankur Mittal Vice President Technology and Managing Director of Lowe’s India provided the keynote remarks. Speakers from Gojek, Udaan, Haptik, The Brigade Group and Accenture engaged in a fireside chat and panel discussion about the future of home improvement retail. 

Lowe’s India is the retail technology and analytics center for Lowe’s Companies, Inc. With more than 2,500 associates, Lowe’s India focuses on technology, analytics and shared services. For more information, visit Lowe’s India on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

About Lowe’s: 

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is a FORTUNE® 50 home improvement company serving approximately 18 million customers a week in the United States and Canada. With fiscal year 2019 sales of $72.1 billion, Lowe’s and its related businesses operate or service more than 2,200 home improvement and hardware stores and employ approximately 300,000 associates. Based in Mooresville, N.C., Lowe’s supports the communities it serves through programs focused on creating safe, affordable housing and helping to develop the next generation of skilled trade experts.

Aeternity Starfleet Accelerator to back three Indian Blockchain Startups

The selected startups - Hypermine, Drife and Pontis, to receive an investment offer and exclusive mentorship to build their projects on the æternity blockchain

The first edition of the Starfleet Program in India organised by blockchain investment firm, AE Ventures and IBC Media, an Indian innovation management company, announced the three startups - Drife, Hypermine and Pontis as the winners at the Demo Day that proceed to receive a venture investment as well as go-to-market opportunities in the EU and EMEA region, support in technology implementation, business development, marketing and legal affairs. AE Ventures also announced partnership with the International investment companies CV Labs and Woodstock Funds, providing the startups with access to the partners’ international ecosystem, facilities and network. The winners will now have the opportunity to attract investment from AE Ventures and go through active due diligence by Woodstock Fund and CV Labs. 

The announcement was made at the Starfleet Demo Day, a virtual conference with over 350 participants attending from across the globe on May 8, 2020, where the 7 selected start-ups battled it out. The event was attended by several leading innovators across blockchain and start-up space including keynote speakers Hon’ble Smt Rama Devi (Officer on Special Duty (OSD), ITE&C Department, Government of Telangana), Shradha Sharma, Chief Editor and Founder, YourStory, Wei Zhou, Chief Financial Officer, Binance and Nikola Stojanow, CEO, AE Ventures. The event witnessed virtually across the globe also had 2 panel discussions on Startup way from adversity to success and Crisis 2002 VS 2020-Seeking the opportunity with panellists including Sriram V Iyer, Vice President and App Engineering at Flipkart, Vivek Prakash, Leading Product at BrowserStack and Co-Founder of HackerEarth, Neeraj Khandelwal, Co-Founder & CTO, CoinDCX among others.

At a time when the world is hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and fewer investors or VCs are committing funds to the market, the Starfleet accelerator programme continues to make long-term venture investments having successfully supported over 15 seed stage blockchain startups with a total investment of $2.1 Million investment so far.

The Starfleet India began in the beginning of 2020 when 13 Blockchain Startups from India were shortlisted from a staggering 176 applications received and post the 7-day intensive training period, Genesis Week, proceeded to the second round of the incubation initiative narrowing it to 7 finalists from the pool of contestants. 

“The Indian blockchain space has seen an immense development in the recent months with the multiple initiatives taken by the government and corporates alike, and we are proud to provide a catalyst with Starfleet India, wherein our selected startups, with their disruptive ideas, have demonstrated impressive progress over the course of this acceleration program. Our partnership with Woodstock Fund and CV Labs cements our commitment to the Indian Blockchain ecosystem and will be actively collaborating to explore investments in not only startups that presented at the Demo Day, but also those that will come up in future. We will continue to evaluate, guide, mentor and provide access to our wide network, globally,” said Nikola Stojanow, CEO of AE Ventures and CBO of æternity. “We are very happy to collaborate with IBC Media and identify and work with interesting new startups in India. This only proves that together we all can achieve more and we hope to continue to educate and invest in companies on the bleeding-edge of this new technology.”

“We started Starfleet India with a hope of giving a credible platform for the upcoming Indian blockchain startups in India. This journey has been a revelation to the technological prowess of the Indian entrepreneurial and developer ecosystem and we are very proud of the selected startups whose solutions are relevant to every individual in the society. We will continue to grow this ecosystem and enable a temperament of innovation in the future.” said Raghu Mohan, CEO and Co-Founder, IBC Media.

The seven startups that were shortlisted for the final pitching on the Demo Day include Hypermine, Drife, Pontis, QuillTrace, Murmur, GoFinito and ESG Robo.

The final three blockchain startups that successfully secured funding offers and mentoring support from the AE Ventures and IBC Media teams are: 

1. 
   
   
   
   1. Hypersign by Hypermine 
      
      Hypermine is a Bangalore-based startup that provides a decentralized identity management solution enabled with a single-sign-on. In its essence, Hypermine uses the underlying protocol to validate a digital signature produced by a standard blockchain algorithm in a mobile device using authentication service which is a smart-contract deployed on a blockchain. It does not rely on a central authority; it, therefore, provides a completely decentralized environment for identity management.Hypermine envisions a world where privacy is a fundamental right, where people are given true ownership of their data.
      
       
   
   
   2. Pontis 
      
      Pontis is a DeFi solution for centralized exchanges built by a two-member team based out of Bangalore, Karnataka. The value proposition of Pontis lies in its ability to aggregate the best tools in DeFi and integrate them with the exchanges, providing a single gateway for engaging with all of them, comparing their rates and switching between them. This is built as a cross-platform plug-n-play model that is a B2B product for enterprises. 
   
   
   3. Drife 
      
      Set to disrupt the ride-hailing industry, Drife is building the taxi 3.0 with blockchain technology. Drife is a Bangalore-based startup, it aims at empowering both the driver and the rider’s community. Drife is developed with the intention of solving the current concerns in the drivers’ community, alongside enhancing the quality of rides for the customer.This is a one-person-show that is enabled to disrupt the ride-hailing industry. The platform deals with a whole new economic model and will incentivize all the value creators equally. Drife in no way undermines the need to circumvent the obstacles of a bureaucratic world; however, in its own way, this app creates an organic system for the ride-hailing industry to thrive well on the internet.
   
   
   
   

AE Ventures is an investment company providing initial funding, acceleration and advisory support to blockchain projects. The company also runs æternity Starfleet - a full-service global acceleration program for seed-stage startups utilizing blockchain. 

æternity is a public, open-source, blockchain platform offering means for a decentralized future realized by a global community. Blockchain inherently has the disruptive potential to support distributed wealth and transparency in power structures. æternity aims to solve problems of scalability, security, be more economical, and user-friendly when it comes to accessing the smart contracts on the network. 

IBC Media is an innovation management company, founded in 2018. The company runs technology-driven open innovation programs for technology firms, corporates, governments and investment firms. Their offerings involve connecting large scale entities to connect with agile and innovative small scale tech startups and innovators via developer/startup-based programmes. They also host technology-led events that create common spaces for all industry stakeholders and startups in the emerging tech space to have meaningful dialogue and advisory for fundraising and growth.

India Accelerator Begins with Winter Cohort

India Accelerator a seed-stage accelerator program today announced it has commenced Winter Cohort in association with Startup Buddy which is a one-stop shop offering end-to-end solutions of financial and startup advisory services. In its continued effort to strengthen the collaboration between start-ups and corporates IA has selected some buddying start-ups which will be part of such an exercise for the first time.

The selected start-ups in the cohort are - AS-Technolution GoTo Hypermine Ingenium Kachcha Chittha Lionise MSF MGM Tubbr TrialRoom Ubiqc Wardrobe and Wardo.Mona Singh Co-founder and Partner India Accelerator said It feels a great pleasure and honour to provide an additional welcoming platform to the start-ups.

This exclusive program will help IA Startups to move beyond the startup phase by equipping them with the knowledge tools and connections needed for their next stage of growth. We in association with Startup Buddy aim to provide start-ups with the opportunity to excel to no bounds. With our reach spanning all over the nation India Accelerator ecosystem provides entrepreneurs and organizations with the prospect to hone their skills.

Amit Singal CEO Startup Buddysaid I am excited with Partnership of Startup Buddy with India Accelerator for Winter Cohort. Joint efforts by two established Organisation in the field will give more power to the Program.

About India Accelerator

India Accelerator is a seed-stage accelerator program that offers four months of rigorous guidance funding mentoring business and technology services support and sources from mentors partners and investors. IA takes early stage technology-based start-ups and helps them rapidly build a sustainable business. What differentiates IA from other programs is their unrelenting focuses on growth on de-risking the assumptions on helping companies prioritize their customers and product. The philosophy is that if the customers and product are taken care of everything else will fall in place. It is the ONLY GAN partnered mentorship-driven program in India.

In a 1st, IIM Udaipur becomes the only Accelerator Program Center in Rajasthan: NSTEDB, DST GOI

The National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) - Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, has announced IIM Udaipur as a robust Accelerator Program Centre in Rajasthan for the year 2019-20. Across India, only nine  incubation centres are listed, out of which IIMU’s Accelerator Program Centre headed by Mr Umamahesvaram Mandi. 

The recent development came in the backdrop of the upcoming IIM Udaipur’s Launch-n-Zoom 2.0 accelerator cohort program. With its theme of MARKET-VALIDATION-LAUNCH, the eleborate program is open to Tech-based startups from all domains. The selected cohort will begin training in January 2020. Before this, IIM Udaipur’s Incubation centre hosted its first successful cohort in 2018 where 18 startups were selected out of 275 applicants following a thorough process.



On the attainment, Mr Umamahesvaram Mandi, Chief Executive Officer, Incubation Centre IIMU said, “This is a moment of monumental victory for the entire IIM Udaipur and the emphasis our institution places on entrepreneurship. IIM Udaipur thrives with the launch of emerging early-stage technology startups and zooms them into their success; once again this year with Launch-n-Zoom 2.0, which focusses on creating a positive impact on the way startups roll out their products or services and build ventures. Through 12 weeks of learning, mentoring and networking, the startups are prepped for the demo day where they get an opportunity to pitch their ideas and models to investors, for potential funding."

Prof. Janat Shah, Director, IIM Udaipur said, “The country needs  motivated youth to launch startups, invest in self-driven projects and conduct extensive research and development for the better tomorrow. Our Incubation centre is driven towards building a strong and effective network with other leaders and entrepreneurs in the industry to enable meaningful partnerships with startups.

Applications from all over India are welcome till November 30th for early-stage startups that have done Proof-of-Concept and are in the process of developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and building prototype. 

 Sovan Sunil Panda, CEO and cofounder, Mangosteen Holdings, Anjana Vivek, technologist, Saurabh Kwatra, an innovative designer and function cost analyst and Rishabh Verdia and Yogesh Andlay business builders will be joining as mentors with others. 

IIM Udaipur’s incubation centre has focused on providing some additional benefits to the new cohort which include  access to equipment and software for MVP development and prototyping; discovery of customers; price-points of products in the market; prototype refinement; assistance in development of newer edition of products and market testing of products; co-working spaces with 24x7 internet connectivity; and tailor-made topics and knowledge resources. IIM Udaipur will also bear costs of prototyping and development. 

‘Launch-n-Zoom 2.0’ At a glance:

Duration	Dates	Highlights
12 Days Program at IIM Udaipur	January 10th-21st, 2020	Market Analytics, Consumer Behaviour & Validation, Design and business Innovation, Product Development
3 Weekend Program Online	February 2nd, 2020 onwards	Social Media Marketing, Building Network & Selling Skills, Intellectual Property Protection
8 Days Program at IIM Udaipur	March 16th- 23rd, 2020	Pricing Strategy, Financial Statements, Pitch Preparation, Fund Raising,  Ratio Analysis, Case Studies

For Detailed schedule- https://iimuic.org/themes/custom/dweb/images/launch-n-zoom/Accelerator_Program_Structure.pdf

For more details on the program, please visit-  https://iimuic.org/launch-n-zoom-2.0 

About IIM Udaipur Incubation Centre: -

IIM Udaipur Incubation Centre is a Technology and Business Incubator (TBI), accredited to DST, GoI operating at IIM Udaipur. The IIM Udaipur Incubation Centre presents a dynamic opportunity to serve as a platform to launch and develop startups into viable, profitable and scalable businesses.

IIMU’s Incubation centre invests time and resources into entrepreneurs who are making an impact in multiple domains including clean-tech, agri-tech, FMCG, Dairy financial inclusion,, Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning, Extended Reality/ Augmented Reality solutions Blockchain, IoT and Smart-home technologies The Incubation Centre provides mentorship, lab facilities to develop prototype, coworking space, legal and accounting assistance, secretarial services, IP Protection services, industry and investor connects, and grants to sustain the startups (based on merit).

 

Airtel Acquires Stake in Vahan; Launches Startup Accelerator Program

Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s largest integrated telecommunications company, today announced the launch of its Startup Accelerator Program to support growth of early stage Indian tech startups. With the advent of its Start-up Accelerator Program, Airtel aims to support the creation of a vibrant start-up ecosystem that contributes to “Digital India”.

Through Airtel’s Startup Accelerator, early startups get access to Airtel’s online and offline distribution network, deep market understanding and ecosystem of global strategic partners. In addition, Airtel has also developed strong in-house capabilities around machine learning and artificial intelligence which could be leveraged to aid the growth of startups. Furthermore, startups also get access to advisory services from Airtel’s executive team.

Vahan is the first to join Airtel Startup Accelerator

Airtel announced the induction of Bengaluru based tech startup Vahan into its Startup Accelerator Program. Airtel will acquire a stake in Vahan and partner with them in building significant scale to achieve their vision of enabling jobs for the next billion internet users.

Founded in 2016 and backed by YCombinator and Khosla Ventures, Vahan leverages advanced Artificial Intelligence to match job seekers with employers inside messaging apps such as Whatsapp. It is focused on finding blue collar jobs for millions of young Indians in Delivery, Driving, Retail, BFSI, BPO and Hospitality sectors with companies such as Zomato, Swiggy and Dunzo as clients.

Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel said: “Today, early stage startups in India have some very exciting ideas but face multiple challenges in scaling up. With Airtel’s scale and digital capabilities around distribution and payments, we have the potential to drive accelerated growth of emerging startups that are solving hard problems. The team at Vahan is doing some incredible work to bring jobs to millions of people through AI based technology. We are excited to partner with them on this vision.”

Madhav Krishna, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vahan, said: “Airtel will be a key partner for us as we look to solve a hard problem for Bharat. Most blue-collar job seekers are unaware of the opportunities that exist in the market, especially new-age on-demand jobs. Airtel’s distribution channels will help us reach the very depths of the country and in turn, help millions of Indians take control of their economic destiny. We are incredibly excited about this partnership.”

India Accelerator and Startup Buddy Joins Hands for its Winter Cohort Accelerator Program

India Accelerator, a seed-stage Accelerator and the only GAN-partnered accelerator in India, in association with Startup Buddy, is now inviting applications for its winter cohort programme from across the country.

The program provides focused support to entrepreneurs through an environment that helps them focus on their products and expand their market outreach, supports the acquisition of business knowledge, facilitates the raising of necessary finance, introduces the entrepreneurs to business networks, all of which substantially reduce the level of failure.

Providing “cash, competency, connects” and a hands-on learning experience in both Indian and international markets, the accelerator welcomes good ideas from across sectors and domains.

Startups wishing to receive acceleration benefits have until 31st October to https://www.indiaaccelerator.co/accelerator/programs/

According to the accelerator’s website, applying early may increase chances of selection.

Mona Singh, Co-Founder, India Accelerator said “This exclusive program will help IA’s Startups to move beyond the startup phase by equipping them with the knowledge, tools, and connections needed for their next stage of growth. Focus is on serious acceleration & the program is designed to support and navigate startups through the process of operationally scaling their business while generating meaningful relationships with IA Partners, mentors, and investors. Successful Founders & Corporate CXOs from across the Community spread across the Globe will be the primary mentors for the program.”

Amit Singal, CEO, Startup Buddy said "I am excited with Partnership of Startup Buddy with India Accelerator for Winter 2019 Cohort. Joint efforts by two established Organisation in the field will give more power to the Program"

About India Accelerator:

India Accelerator (IA) is a seed-stage accelerator program that offers four months of rigorous guidance, funding, mentoring, business and technology services support and sources from mentors, partners and investors. IA takes early stage technology-based startups and help them rapidly build a sustainable business. What differentiates IA from other programs is its unrelenting focus on growth, on de-risking the assumptions, on helping companies prioritize their customers and product. The philosophy is that if the customers and product are taken care of, everything else will fall in place. It is the ONLY GAN partnered, mentorship-driven, program in India.

About Startup Buddy:

Startup Buddy is a one-stop shop offering end-to-end solutions of financial and startup advisory services, supporting, investing and helping startups raise funds through its network.

Cohort 3.0 by CoWrks Foundry Introduces 8 Innovative, Disruptive Startups

The CoWrks Foundry announced the successful conclusion of its third cohort, comprising of eight startups. The CoWrks Foundry offers rigorous 24-week accelerator program for early stage startups that are looking to forge their innovative solutions in Urban Tech, Enterprise Tech and Social Enterprise.

A total of 450+ startups have applied for the third cohort program and 15 were shortlisted from them, which were further reviewed by the investment committee. After the conclusion of the review process, 8 startups were finalized to be a part of the accelerator program.

The Cohort 3.0 consists of an electric mix of eight tech and enterprise businesses which offer disruptive business solutions which are futuristic and potential growth drivers. The shortlisted startups are:

1. Instoried - AI-driven deep tech content startup Instoried helps brands predict the emotional impact of their content upon their customers' minds. Instoried has created a tool, which helps brands to strategies, execute, and deliver content using predictive analysis to increase customer engagement. The B2B SaaS-based startup helps brands to boost engagement and increase content productivity in real-time.


2. Botspace - BotSpace helps businesses build chatbots in 5 mins without training, coding or bot deployment knowledge. BotSpace works with both big and small businesses. Enterprises and Agencies can use BotSpace Creator Studio to deploy chatbots from a list of pre-built templates.


3. Happy Locate - Founded by Ajay Tiwari & Sainadh Duvvuru, Happylocate is India's first automation based relocation management system of the country that takes care of corporate relocations end to end. The key attraction of the startup is its proprietary cloud-based relocation management solution that helps corporates manage even 1000 relocations under 1 minute. That's 1/100th of the time taken otherwise. With verified movers serviceable across 15000 Pin Codes and with 16,000+ hotels across India, custom in-built approval flow, asset light operation model and a range of other benefits, Happylocate is already the exclusive relocation partner for some of the largest corporates including Quess Corp, ITC Infotech, Coca Cola and a lot more


4. Yogya - Yogya is a talent capability enhancer which acts as an assistant to leaders to identify the skill gaps in their organisations and empower them to close gaps faster powered by AI. For Employees, Yogya is a real time performance support system which will make them more productive and future proof.


5. Lockn - Lockn transforms the way people access and interact with their environment. Lockn builds a world where every object around us can securely recognise our physical presence with our permission to provide us with a frictionless experience, personalized to our individual needs and preferences.


6. Huviair - Huviair is an Enterprise Drone Technology Startup. Using GIS and deep learning techniques, the Huviair Software analyzes on-site drone data to accurately monitor and measure the progress and deviations of projects in the Real Estate, Infrastructure and Mining sectors.


7. Bhorzvan - is a Power-Train designer and Manufacturer for Electric Vehicles right from Scooters up to Trucks. It has developed one of the highest power dense yet highly efficient Motors and Controls for EVs combined with an active liquid cooling battery pack that can deliver both High power as well as increased range with the same Lithium cells used by other manufacturers.


8. Refresh - Refresh re-cycles and up-cycles old and unusable textile waste into handmade rugs, and furnishings by training and skilling women communities across India. Refresh uses waste fabric to make home furnishing through upcycling and recycling methods.

Speaking about Cohort 3.0, Nruthya Madappa, Managing Partner, The CoWrks Foundry said, “We are proud to introduce Cohort 3.0. Since the inception of The CoWrks Foundry in 2017, we have mentored and worked with 24 start-ups. Their journeys have been inspiring and it’s a huge driving force for all of us at The CoWrks Foundry. We endeavor to offer world-class mentorship, international exposure and assist with everything from initial seed capital to client acquisition to help them engineer advanced solutions to business challenges. Cohort 3.0 brings together eight passionate and innovative startups which could potentially be the growth drivers for the Indian Economy.”

During the 24-week accelerator program these startups have achieved a growth in business of 20x and have altered both their mindsets and growth trajectories. Over the course of the program, these eight startups have been equipped with a seed capital of up to $50,000 and were provided with a diverse range of resources including industry experts providing targeted world-class mentorship to each startup, which has helped them gain a strong appeal in the marketplace.

About The CoWrks Foundry

The CoWrks Foundry, based out of Bangalore, is a premier acceleration program for early stage businesses in the fields of Urban Tech, Enterprise Tech and Social Enterprise. The CoWrks Foundry was built to inspire and enable entrepreneurs to build innovative, scalable solutions in tough industries. Through a challenging curriculum developed with global experts and strong post-program support, The CoWrks Foundry provides entrepreneurs with frameworks, tailored mentorship, intelligent capital and a deep network to build resilient technology companies out of India.

JLL India, Invest India to Run Accelerator Programme for Tech Startups in Realty Space

New Delhi, Aug 22 (PTI) Property consultant JLL (Jones Lang Lasalle) India on Thursday said it has partnered with Invest India , a government of India's official investment promotion agency, to launch an accelerator programme for supporting those startups which are working on developing technology solutions for the real estate sector.

"JLL and Invest India, the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation agency, under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, jointly announced the launch of JLL IDEAs," the company said in a statement.

JLL IDEAs is a collaboration between JLL and the initiatives housed at Invest India, Accelerating Growth of New India's Innovations (AGNIi) and Startup India. This programme is real estate proptech accelerator that will promote startups working on cutting edge, disruptive technologies and solutions impacting developers, investors and occupier clients, it added.

AGNIi is the national technology commercialization programme from the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the central government, while Startup India is the government's flagship initiative to boost the startup ecosystem in the country.

"It is AGNIi's constant endeavor to support the ongoing efforts to boost the innovation ecosystem in the country. Through this collaboration with Startup India & JLL, we aim to connect innovators across industries and help commercialize their technology and solutions for the larger good of the real estate sector in India," Prof K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India said.

"India is now the second largest startup ecosystem in the world. With a clear focus to promote innovation in the country, it is the right time for industry to come forward and be a part of the New India story," Invest India MD and CEO Deepak Bagla said.

The proptech space offers limitless opportunities in India and is the single biggest lever to benefit millions of consumers, end users and occupiers alike, Ramesh Nair, CEO and Country Head, JLL India said.

Property consultant's revenue rose 17 per cent to Rs 4,000 crore in 2018-19. PTI MJH

CoWrks Foundry and Yale Institute Launch Health Accelerator Program; Cohort 6 Startups

Earlier this year, the CoWrks Foundry partnered with the Yale Institute for Global Health (YIGH), supported by RMZ Foundation, to announce the collaborative Sustainable Health Initiative (SHI).

The SHI is a 24-week long interdisciplinary business accelerator program for young & early stage startups building innovative solutions in healthcare. On 7th June, the program officially launched with an event at CoWrks Residency Road to commemorate the partnership, by announcing the startups selected for the prestigious program.

In attendance from Yale were Sten H. Vermund, M.D., Ph.D., (Dean, Yale School of Public Health) and Michael Skonieczny (Deputy Director, Yale Institute for Global Health). The event was an exclusive gathering of healthcare entrepreneurs, experts in policy and seasoned practitioners. The objective of the event was to inspire and align and connect founders, investors and coaches. The event aimed at creating a community, with a shared focus on ushering innovative and scalable solutions to the Indian healthcare sector.

A keynote speech was delivered by Yale School of Public Health’s Dean Sten Vermund on the important role of social entrepreneurship in healthcare. Vermund’s speech was followed by a fireside chat between Vikram Damodaran, (Founder of five.eight), Anand Anandkumar (Founder of Bugworks) and Dr. Charit Bhograj (Founder of Tricog Health).

Moderated by Sten Vermund, the panel discussion was centered around the key challenges, opportunities and strategies in healthcare sectors in both rural and urban India. The event came to a close with all the shortlisted startups delivering immersive product pitches to the audience. The inaugural cohort of the Sustainable Health Initiative (SHI) program comprised innovative startups building new age solutions across maternal health, infectious diseases, and healthcare accessibility and affordability.

The SHI program has been designed to power ‘Innovation’ for long-term social, health and environmental impact in emerging economies. With the ecosystem ripe for innovation, healthcare companies in India are effectively poised to impact billions in the country as well as globally.

The 6 startups cohorted are -

NAPS & NIBBLES

A one-stop solution platform for child wellness, providing parents access to high-quality, structured, and medically accurate information from top doctors and specialists.
Website: http://www.napsandnibbles.com/

---

JIOVIO

Providing hassle-free and timely maternal care to expecting mothers and connecting high-risk patients to local healthcare providers. Jiovio’s wearable devices helps expecting mothers monitor their vitals, get expert consultation within minutes, and ensures a risk-free pregnancy.
Website: https://www.jiovio.com/

---

ONWARD ASSIST: 

Using Machine Learning and AI to analyse, diagnose and predict the behaviour of cancer cells in patients. Onward Assist’s computer-based algorithm allows oncopathologists to gain deeper insights on the tumor and the neighbouring tissue and ensure more accurate prognosis and treatment protocols.
Website: http://www.onwardhealth.ai/

---

METAMAGICS: 

Metamagics is a data analytics platform aimed at bridging the information gap in the organ transplant process - from pre-transplant regulatory compliance to patient care. Using dynamic and semantic technology, Metamagics facilitates successful organ transplants by enabling doctors, patients and caregivers to preempt and address complications before they turn fatal.
Website: http://www.metamagics.com/

---

KHUSHI BABY: 

Khushi-TB (KTB) is a new technology adaptation of a successful platform currently used to track maternal and child health in rural India. This technology is being reapplied for tuberculosis treatment in urban slums. The platform provides TB patients with a wearable digital health record and health workers with a mobile application. With the app doctors can scan the wearable tag, see what medication to provide today, and update treatment progress.
Website: https://www.khushibaby.org/

---

PREMIE BREATHE

Globally, 2.6 million newborns die within their first month of life every year, with nearly 90 percent of preterm deaths occurring in low- and middle- income countries due to complications including respiratory distress. To help end these preventable neonatal deaths , we have developed an affordable humidified high flow nasal cannula (HHFNC) device, designed and engineered to provide respiratory support to infants in district and referral hospitals in resource poor settings.

Website: https://news.yale.edu/2018/02/21/premiebreathe-gives-premature-babies-better-chance

---

"The cohort that we've assembled today is the culmination of a highly selective global application process. After a tough and intensive review that included multiple rounds of interviews and diligence, we've shortlisted companies from both the Indian ecosystem and Yale that are solving a diverse set of complex problems with a mission to impact the life and health of millions across the world. We find this class to consist of humble founders, passionate missions and resilient business models and look forward to arm these companies with the expertise, frameworks and network required to succeed at scale,” said Nruthya Madappa, Managing Partner, The CoWrks Foundry.

As part of this program, each startup will receive up to USD $70,000 in seed funding, mentorship from Yale’s faculty and alumni, as well as benefits from a network of Indian industry experts. In addition, the program includes structured sessions to help startups evolve into a sustainable and scalable business model, refine their go-to-market strategy and build a global network.

“Around the world, we face growing health and economic disparities. The public sector cannot fully address the scope and scale of these challenges without private sector ingenuity and creativity,” stated Sten Vermund, Dean, Yale School of Public Health. “We are enthusiastic about the launch today of the Sustainable Health Initiative to further find innovate solutions that will have a significant impact on the health of communities in India, the U.S., and around the world.”

Siemens to Launch its Startup Accelerator 'Next47' in Bengaluru, India

German multinational giant firm, Siemens has opened an office for its separate startup unit 'Next47', a global Venture Capital & Private Equity firm backed by Siemens, in Bengaluru on Monday, to help connect its customers to start-up innovation in India, reported Business Today.

Next47 partners with industry-changing start-ups to multiply their value through the power of Siemens and thereby focusing on innovation and start-ups to enhance digitalisation offerings.

This year, Next47 has launched an internal accelerator program which the firm runs in partnership with Alchemist, a a San Francisco-headquartered, venture-backed business incubator focused on accelerating startups whose revenue comes from enterprises. Th accelerator is platform for Siemens intrapreneurs to develop their business ideas with the support of an unrivaled network of coaches and mentors in order to build the next generation of innovation for Siemens.

Next47 also has a partnership with seed accelerator Techstars to develop the next-generation of Siemens entrepreneurs with the later's 3-month accelerator program.

According to Next47 website, the firm has great connections with a global ecosystem of customers and partners and abundant financial resources with its $1.2 billion global venture fund.

Next47 works with startups who are using deep technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, cybersecurity, autonomous driving, Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, and advanced manufacturing, to solve industry's most difficult and fundamental challenges.

[caption id="attachment_130763" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Siegfried Russwurm, Member of the Managing Board and Chief Technology Officer of Siemens AG[/caption]

Dr Roland Busch, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Technology Officer and Member of the Managing Board, Siemens AG, said in a media statement, "About 4,000 Internet of Things (IoT) and software experts, along with the work done at the Siemens MindSphere Application Centers based in Pune, Noida and Gurgaon, will collaborate with teams around the world to conceptualise, develop, test and bring-to-market applications in the areas of Smart Urban Infrastructure, Digital Enterprise, Connected Mobility, Future of Energy and Artificial Intelligence."

"There is continuity of Government in India and sectors like infrastructure, mobility, grid connectivity, modernisation of power plants, railway, renewables etc is going to get a good revival and these are sectors that will show good growth in the coming years," said Roland Busch.

He said Siemens had committed over a billion euro investment in India in 2015 and those investments are being done in the country.

Speaking on the sidelines of Siemens Innovation Day in Mumbai on Monday, Sunil Mathur, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Limited, said, "India needs to harness digitalisation to optimise manufacturing growth and we are seeing acceleration in interest and demand from customers for our digitalisation portfolio. IoT enabled applications are the need of the hour and will focus on contributing to customers' efforts to maximise the potential with digitalisation through data insights."

Next47 has its presence in Beijing, Boston, Israel, London, Munich, Palo Alto, Paris, Stockholm and now Bengaluru, India.

Canadian Fintech Startup Accelerator Findigm Enters India with SMEStreet

North America based Fintech Accelerator Program – Findigm is set to enter into Indian market as a joint venture with SMEStreet – India’s flagship ecosystem for MSMEs and Startups.

Findigm is a global Accelerator Program aimed at facilitating fast and efficient business ecosystem for Fintech startups and help them in getting ready for the market in less time and with global expertise at their helm.

Fintech as a subject has gained a great amount of popularity among startups and aspiring entrepreneurs in India. The program will not only motivate such fintech initiatives but also ensure the availability of entire technology architecture which is required to run various types of fintech businesses and also give international exposure to reaching out the unreached.

SMEStreet has become a knowledge-driven ecosystem for Indian MSMEs and Startups. As a fast growing community, this tie-up will help the startups of this ecosystem to avail the best for their fintech related market vision.

“The biggest challenge for any startup exists in their initial days of business operation. These initial days spent in the creation of the product. In the case of fintech related products, it becomes very critical to introduce something really robust, secure and scalable in the market, but to build such product a lot of time is required. This accelerator program will ensure that startups should not face this challenge and enter into the market in very less time. In such a scenario, the business life cycle can get started quickly,” says Vinay Kotapati & Massimo Barone, Co-Founders of Findigm.

"Fintech is getting considered among the top five business priorities for startups and aspiring entrepreneurs in India. This strategic association between SMEStreet and FINDIGM will address a wide market segment. Through this tie-up, the whole pre-launch process for any fintech startup will become efficient. We are proud to be part of this as a facilitator and India outreach partner," finds Faiz Askari Co-Founder of SMEStreet.

Findigm India will focus on providing startups their proprietary frameworks and API’s developed in the areas of Blockchain, Machine Learning and AI-based technology and global payments Solutions which ease out the pressure of surviving in business for the initial days of product development and faster deployments to markets.
About Findigm India

Findigm is the new paradigm of comprehensive startup ecosystem backed by a strong technology firm providing solutions, frameworks, API’s in the areas of BlockChain, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, IoT and End to End Payment solutions. As a global accelerator program, Findigm has developed a ready to use proprietary frameworks for startups in the following areas:

<ul>
<li>Cloud-based EMV Host platform, Incentive management platform with QR Code for issuance and acceptance of payments across the globe</li>

    <li>Blockchain solution creating Digital ID Keys for Financial Institutions, Merchants and individuals to deliver a powerful, digital ecosystem for Financial Institutions, ICO's and Payment processors, a closed loop ecosystem for ICO's, Gaming & Entertainment Industries.</li>

    <li>White label solutions for alternative payment gateway, FX, MPOS, Mobile Wallet, closed/ open loop card program and redemptions for ecommerce applications</li>

About SMEStreet, the platform was formed in 2014 with an aim to become knowledge sharing driven ecosystem for Startups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Since then, SMEStreet as a dynamic digital media platform have created exclusivity through the pro-business content and have managed to attract close to a million of Entrepreneurs, CXOs and Policymakers who are involved in the small business segment. Being part of Vertical Business Media Pvt. Ltd. this media platform is committed to contribute proactively in facilitating and cknowledging business growth through effective on –ground market analysis, understanding the trend and more.

• Published via Business Wire India feed

US-based Silicon Road and NUMA Launches India Accelerator for Startups in Retail-Tech & FoodTech

Silicon Road US , a US-based Venture Fund and a RetailTech Accelerator, is launching Silicon Road India Retail & FoodTech Accelerator, a unique startup acceleration program conceptualized by Silicon Road and powered by NUMA , a France-based international innovation hub & startup accelerator.

Silicon Road and NUMA are partnering to launch a 4-month startup acceleration program providing international funded support and infrastructure for startups, particularly in Retail & FoodTech to fast-track startup growth.

Silicon Road empowers retailers to take charge of their own future, through investment in transformative innovation. We bring together industry, academia, and startups to co-create next-gen retail technologies.

Our unique program combines four key elements to create a maximum synergy:

• A strategic US fund financed by retailers; India fund comprising of GPs, LPs and other investors


• An accelerator program for early stage startups in India, and early & growth stage startups in the US


• A shared innovation lab and advisory services provided by Georgia Tech in the US


• Partnership agreements with CFTRI from a FoodTech standpoint

Funding and Support: Silicon Road will invest an initial seed amount of money (INR 25L) in all startups joining the program. Startups will also get access to the €700k worth of perks and to international & local investors for fundraising support with a further round of funding opportunity from Silicon Road for eligible startups during or after the program.

Access to international & local networks around the Retail & Food Tech industries: An actionable network is a key feature of any startup program. The selected startups will be introduced to the local & international network of food and retail tech corporates, mentors, research infrastructure, industry experts, founders, partners & foreign official delegations to enable the startups to build their own networks.

Tailored program to accelerate the Startup growth: In the beginning, startups will be taken through multiple bootcamps on the various core functions of a business including Design, Technology/Product, Growth Hacking, etc. to help startups strengthen their product and build a business strategy. At the end of these bootcamps, we will be helping each startup to create their OKR/roadmap with clear KPIs and in the next 3 months, we will support them on the execution of this roadmap.

Quality mentoring by some of the best mentors & in-house experts: The startups will be surrounded by some of the best in-house experts and introduced to the right mentors. In addition to the team, an Entrepreneur in Residence and Growth Hacker in Residence will support the startups to execute their product and growth strategy.

Free office space and infrastructure in Mysuru: The selected startups (at least one of the founders) will be working out of the Silicon Road campus and they will get a world class office infrastructure at Silver Spirit Tech Park for 6 months in the royal city Mysuru.

Silicon Road will be taking equity stake in exchange for the funding and acceleration program.

Call for application has been kickstarted for the first cohort, and startups can apply here by 20th April 2019, the program will kickoff in May 2019.

[Via Business Wire India]

Top Featured Image by Rama Khandkar from Pexels

Risers Accelerator to Shortlist 200 Startups with ₹15-20 Lakhs as Funding Support

Risers Accelerator announced its official launch at The Oberoi, Dr Zakir Hussain Marg (New Delhi). The company’s official launch was followed by the launch of its website, i.e. www.risersaccelerator.com. Risers Accelerator is a platform to transform the game-changing ideas of startups into feasible and profitable businesses. Risers Accelerator is a well-integrated team of 35 young and successful entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds and sectors; their cumulative experience is more than 700 years, and the total worth of their businesses is more than INR 3000 Crores. Risers Accelerator is aimed to provide adequate financial, infrastructural, and knowledge support to all the potential startups, and by 2025, it is determined to add INR 3,00,000 Crores in the country’s GDP.

In the financial year (2019-20), Risers Accelerator willshortlist 200 startups across the nation to support and nurture them. And, in case a startup is failed to raise funds by its own, Risers Accelerator will invest upto 50 lakhs per startup. To expedite this mission, Risers Accelerator has joined hands with Indraprastha Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIIT-D) to help its students become future entrepreneurs through financial assistance and knowledge support, and in turn, get institute’s technological assistance to harness a productive and lucrative culture of startups across the world.

The launch witnessed various industry leaders, budding entrepreneurs, influencers and eminent personalities such as Arokiaswamy Velumani of Thyrocare Technologies Ltd., Ramesh Menon of Future Group among others. The event turned out to be a great platform for well-renowned influential personalities from diverse backgrounds to interact and ignite conversations with top business leaders for mutual benefits and futuristic goals.

On the official launch of Risers Accelerator, Mr. Ajay Kapur, Director – Operations and Strategy Management at Risers Accelerator said “Startups need support, and many times, money alone can’t overcome every challenge. Along with it, knowledge support, human resource, technical assistance, market research and many other factors play an equally important role. Well, Risers is a startup accelerator, which aims to provide all kinds of resources and support to growing startups or those which have great growth potential but somehow fail due to any of the said factors.”

Throwing light on the plans and strategies, Mr. Rachit Chawla, Director – Finance & Technology at Risers Accelerator said,“For many years, multiple startups have failed despite their great potential, due to factors such as lack of technical assistance, finance or knowledge about the target market. And with Risers, we are taking a unique initiative to inspire and empower entrepreneurs with their pro-society ethics and ideologies. These startups need to stay empowered, motivated and assisted in achieving newer feats. Keeping this in view, we are in discussion with Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi) for collaboration. We hope to connect startups with immense growth opportunities and thus give them wings to reach great heights in their entrepreneurial journey.”

Speaking on the similar note Mr. Pravin Khandelwal, Director  – Leadership & Motivation at Risers Accelerator added, ‘Risers Accelerator will help to develop a pivotal start-up community in the country, and will work for greater goal to bolster startups in line with Make in India, Startup India, and Digital India.’

Alok Nikhil Jha, Chief Operating Officer of ‘IIITD Innovation & Incubation Center’ of IIIT Delhi also expressed his views regarding significant role of accelerator towards supporting the startups and possible ways of association. He said, “IIITD Innovation & Incubation Center, is one of the most prestigious technology based incubator in the country which fosters the culture of Entrepreneurship and provides an ideal platform providing opportunities to scientists, engineers, professionals and students to convert their innovations, ideas and plans into sustainable businesses ventures. The Accelerator plays a tremendous role in overall ecosystem by closely involving Incubators and supporting startup ventures.” He further said “With the strong enthusiastic team of Risers Accelerator and a common mission, we feel there are several ways we can contribute the community together and set up a bench mark in the Country in the ecosystem of Innovation & Entrepreneurship”.

Pharma Major AstraZeneca and NASSCOM tie-up to Launch Accelerator for Healthcare Startups

Global biopharmaceutical major AstraZeneca and Indian IT industry body Nasscom have joined hands to set up an accelerator programme to support Indian startups in healthcare space.

Headquartered in Cambridge, U.K. AstraZeneca has launched a strategic partnership with the Nasscom IoT Centre of Excellence to set up an accelerator programme to support Indian startups develop innovative solutions to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) care in India.

AstraZeneca also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NASSCOM

AstraZeneca PLC Chairman of the Board Leif Johansson told PTI: “Best healthcare that can be provided and developed comes from cooperation across borders between industry, government and academia in a such way that we, with the help of technology, can provide a higher-quality service at a lower cost.” AstraZeneca is committed to strengthening innovation in healthcare in India, he added.

In a statement, Johansson said: “We are pleased to collaborate with the government, start-up eco-system and industry partners to achieve the shared vision of making meaningful interventions in improving the lives of patients impacted by non-communicable diseases in India.” Highlighting the Unnati initiative, Sweden’s Trade Commissioner to India Carsten Grönblad said: “Unnati is a model for co-innovation allowing industry, start-ups and the civil society to jointly develop solutions addressing global social needs.” This challenge calls for collaboration to implement early and remote screening as well as efficient AI-based patient management, he added.

NASSCOM – CoE IoT was launched as part of Government of India’s Digital India Initiative to help the country achieve a leadership role in the convergent areas of hardware and software. Under this collaboration, AstraZeneca and NASSCOM will incubate start-ups in bringing innovative and frugal solutions that can help in the management of NCDs. 

Source - Financial Express

Top Featured Image - WSJ.com

Rolls Royce’s Data Labs to Launch Startup Accelerator in Bengaluru in April

R² Data Labs, which is a innovation lab by engineering company 'Rolls-Royce', will launch a startup accelerator in Bengaluru in April this year to develop a collaborative ecosystem of digital partners in India, the company announced in Bangalore on Wednesday.

With the startup accelerator, Rolls-Royce wants to use data to spark innovation in all of its businesses and collaborate more effectively with partners and customers.

Rolls-Royce will provide mentoring and technical support to start-ups specialising in the areas of Advanced Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Quantum Computing, Autonomous and Sensing.

Launched in December 2017 by the company, R² Data Labs acts as a ‘data innovation guild’ across Rolls-Royce, connecting people from all over the business to collect, champion and inspire data and AI innovation.

Rolls-Royce has specifically chosen Bangalore to launch this program in India due to the growing number of technology companies there.

According to recent reports, Bangalore is now ranked as the city with highest growth index for start-up hubs, followed by London and Tel Aviv. The city is one among the nine ‘International Start-up Hubs’ outside of the United States and the start-up capital of India.

Commenting on the announcement, Caroline Gorski, group director, R² Data Labs, said, "Sitting at the heart of our vision for the digital age is a collaborative approach to innovation, where we actively look to develop new, radical ways of working to maintain our competitive edge. To this end, Rolls-Royce has been sponsoring, and collaborating with, niche technology start-ups in the areas of AI, Big Data Analytics, IoT, application development and future technologies across the world to help validate, build and grow their business."

"Unlocking hidden value in data requires new technology but also new ways of thinking. Working with IoT start-ups helps us to accelerate digital transformation, deliver further value to customers, improve existing services and create new areas of growth. At the same time, we also get to help those innovators to succeed, and share in their pace, inventiveness and energy,” said Gorski.

Rolls-Royce has more than 20 years of experience combining engineering expertise with data analytics, offering operational efficiencies to airline customers. Building on these foundations, Rolls-Royce is expanding its digital capabilities to deliver increased value from existing services and introduce new services to customers across the group.

Kishore Jayaraman, president, Rolls-Royce – India and South Asia, said, "Digital skills help accelerate India’s drive to develop its economy. The country’s vibrant digital ecosystem, supported by an innovative start-up environment, will facilitate the development of capabilities in these areas in the hope of creating immense opportunities across the lives of individuals and affect diverse industries including financial services, retail, media, travel, hospitality and healthcare. We recognise that some of the best digital capabilities exist outside of our business. For Rolls-Royce to continue to pioneer the power that matters as a leading industrial technology company and be a strong industrial partner, we must champion collaboration. As a leader in applied industrial AI and analytics applications, R² Data Labs is tasked to help Rolls-Royce become the ‘go-to’ industrial company.”

At present, Rolls-Royce already partners with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Microsoft, two globally-recognised digital service providers. As part of the partnership, TCS provides digital platform capability, allowing data to be captured, shared and analysed more easily across Rolls-Royce so that new products and services can be developed at pace.

In 2016, Rolls-Royce invested 1.3 billion pound (Rs 12,130 crore) in R&D. It also supports a global network of 31 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.

Besides India, R² Data Labs has data innovation capability hubs in the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Singapore and New Zealand.

Source - AutoCarPro.in

Agrifood Tech Accelerator Gastrotope Announces 5 Startups for its 1st Cohort

Gastrotope, the agrifood tech accelerator launched in September last year by Taizo Son’s Mistletoe, GSF, and Infobridge, today announced the names of five startups in the very first cohort of its program.

Over 150 applications were received for the program, and the following five startups have been shortlisted :

1. Brown Foods by Lifenectar Health Care Pvt. Ltd.

Founded in 2017 by Stanford, IIT Delhi and IIT Roorkee Alumni, Brown Foods is creating next-generation packaged food products. Using data analytics and AI, they make personalized packaged food products, using the healthiest ingredients sourced directly from farmers and deliver fresh at doorsteps, with complete transparency across the supply chain. 

2. Credible by Agzaken Risk Management (OPC) Pvt. Ltd.

Established in 2018, Credible has created agriculture specific risk management tools (AI-driven) for financial institutions and policy makers. It combines various data sources such as remote sensing, Agri-commodities pricing and transactions data to provide unique insights at a farm or farmer level. Its innovative approach was acknowledged and awarded the special jury prize at the Mumbai FinTech festival, and as one of the top25 InsureTech startups by HDFC Ergo.

3. Fasal by Wolkus Technology Solutions Pvt. Ltd.:

Established in January 2018, Fasal is an agri-tech platform, developed by Wolkus Technology Solutions. It is an AI-powered IoT platform for agriculture ecosystem that records a variety of growing conditions on the farms, makes on-farm predictions and delivers actionable insights and recommendations to farmers, thereby helping them in increasing productivity.

4. Occipital Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Occipital Tech automates the grading and sorting process of fruits and vegetables by using computer vision. Occipital Tech's technology grades fruits and vegetables based on shape, size, color and surface patterns. The startup was established in the year 2017 with an aim to redefine the grading processes, to increase the transparency in trade and improve the marketability of the produce. 

5. Triton Foodworks Pvt. Ltd.

Founded in 2014, Triton Foodworks is a new age, precision farming company, which creates ideal conditions for growing pesticide free fruits and vegetables. Precise monitoring and adjustments of every input from light intensity to individual ions in nutrient mixes allows Triton to grow up to 15 times more produce in the same footprint, using almost 95% less water and absolutely zero chemical pesticides. Triton grows food that demands less and delivers more.



The Gastrotope accelerator program has helped these start-ups to optimise their business model, achieve product-market fit, and execute a scalable growth strategy. The program included 1 on 1 mentoring session with 30 mentors, provided networking opportunity, funding investment advice, strategy-and-skill development.

Gastrotope is a catalyst in the formation of ‘Farm to Fork’ ecosystem that is not only sustainable but also enriches the lives of billions.

Rajesh Sawhney, CEO and founder of GSF India said, “The five shortlisted startups embody our intent to create and nurture a true ‘Farm to Fork’ ecosystem in India. All of them share two common threads: an exceptional leadership team and a focused and scalable business idea, which we believe are vital ingredients necessary to make a meaningful impact in a sector as huge and diverse as agriculture.” Naho Shigeta, CEO of Infobridge Holdings said, “The overwhelming response to our accelerator program demonstrates the keen interest of Indian startup community in making a difference to agriculture in the country. The Gastrotope team is now looking forward to working with and enabling these five startups in building a strong and sustainable business."

DST-backed SRI-TBI and Polyplex Launch Startup Accelerator for Environmental Sustainability, Waste Management & Renewable

Polyplex Corporation Limited, one of world's largest manufacturers of packaging film, and Shriram Institute - Technology Business Incubator (SRI-TBI), a Delhi-based business incubator of Shriram Institute for Industrial Research and supported by Department of science & technology (DST), Government of India, have announced that they have joined hands to run an Accelerator Program - 'CleanEdge' for Environmental Sustainability, Waste Management & Renewables. This is a four month program and will run from February 2019 till May 2019.

CleanEdge Accelerator program has started accepting applications. With rigorous evaluation 15 startups will be shortlisted to participate in this program.

Key offerings under this program are 1) High quality intensive mentorship by Startup Experts, Functional Strategy Experts, domain related technical & sector specific experts. 2) Access to State-of-the-Art pilot lab facility at SRI-TBI in Delhi & Co-working facility at Aspirelabs. 3) Access to 'Appropriate' Technology, Opportunity to raise Seed-Capital upto 25 lakhs. 4) Access to Impact investors and Potential Customers. 5) Post acceleration support.

With Polyplex and SRI-TBI as anchors, this program is also being significantly supported by Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India under its umbrella of National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) scheme launched in 2016.

Who can apply - Startups working in Clean technology but not limited to -- Circular Economy, Waste Management, Recycling & Up-cycling, Plastic & Rubber, Clean water & Clean air Technologies, Renewables, 3D Printing, Smart City Solutions, Environment Sustainability.

Polyplex Corporation Limited is among the world's largest manufacturers of packaging film with manufacturing facilities in five countries and employs over 2000 people globally. Apart from Infrastructural support, Polyplex through its network brings a high-quality business mentor pool, global linkages and market access for young startups.

Shriram Institute for Industrial Research is an organization providing research and testing services in the field of plastics, rubbers, specialty chemicals and waste management. It also helps startups grow through nurturing innovative ideas into technologies and incubating entrepreneurs through its Technology Business Incubator.

This program would be executed by Aspirelabs Accelerator - founded by Ranjit Singh - Director at Polyplex Corporation Limited and an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and BITS Pilani. Applications for CleanEdge Accelerator are now open. Program details are accessible at https://aspirelabs.com/clean-tech. Also anyone can share this article with budding entrepreneurs working in clean-tech areas in their network to help drive innovation, growth and collaboration in a socially impactful field.

Aspirelabs is a starup accelerator centrally located in Delhi-NCR with ten thousand square feet of premium office space and having access to high quality business and startup mentors. It is designed to foster entrepreneurship and innovation, and has a range of customized programs to enable young businesses and startups scale up to large profitable businesses. Aspirelabs is closely associated with Startup Oasis - a Jaipur based incubation centre of Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) which is India's leading incubator operating under the aegis of IIM Ahmedabad.

In last few years there have been number of initiatives and programs launched by organizations, young businesses, startups and even by Government of India to tackle challenges in area of environmental sustainability, Waste Management and renewable energy.

In June last year, India's Union science & technology minister Harsh Vardhan had announced that India will soon have its first international incubator to promote innovation in the field of clean energy and stimulate research, innovation, and entrepreneurship for the global initiative on clean energy. With a total investment of around $5 million, the incubator is being set up in a public-private partnership.

At the same time, Yes Bank has also launched multi sector accelerator program called YES SCALE which offers a 15 week program for startups in the areas of clean tech and Agritech, among others.

[Top Image Source - Aspire Labs@Facebook.com]

Maruti Suzuki Launches Accelerator for Early-Age Startups in Mobility & Automobile Sector

Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest car manufacturer, has announced the launch of Mobility & Automobile Innovation Lab (MAIL), its flagship innovation/acceleration program for early-stage startups in the automobile and mobility space, which allows the auto major to tap on innovative startups with solutions that it believes are futuristic and customer oriented, reported NDTV Auto.

 

Through this initiative, Maruti, which is also gearing up to deliver a fleet of electric cars in India by 2020, will provide a platform to the budding talent in India to showcase their entrepreneurial capabilities at a national level.

For same, Maruti Suzuki has partnered with Gurugram-based startup accelerator GHV Accelerator, an Indo-Japanese early-stage seed fund with proprietary accelerator program and industry co-creation program.

MAIL will allow startups with ideas in the areas of connected cars, shared mobility, autonomous cars, electric vehicle and its infrastructure etc. The startups should have a business plan, first feasibility concepts and market understanding.

Explaining about the program, Mr. Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India said, "The Indian Automobile industry is constantly evolving. The need of the hour is to have a relentless approach towards promoting a culture of innovation. This initiative will help Maruti Suzuki leverage the innovation capability of startups to provide unique solutions in the mobility and automobile space."

The Proof of Concept (PoC) of selected startups would be monitored for 4 months along with their business models being optimized, pain points evaluated and their innovation specific strategies would be built across, according to MAIL’s website.

Startups with innovations in these fields would be offered an opportunity by Maruti Suzuki to turn their ideas into reality, the company said in a statement. The Indian automobile industry is currently undergoing a transformation and requires unique solutions in the mobility and automobile space, it said.

Maruti Suzuki has roped in Germany-based corporate innovation expert and startup mentor Tanja Kufner, German Autolabs founder Holger G. Weiss, Panasonic’s energy systems division head Atul Arya, prolific angel investor Sanjay Mehta etc.

From the cohort, the winning startups would be eligible for prize money or an opportunity to do a paid POC with Maruti Suzuki.

While startups that are already funded can also apply for the program, the company hasn’t disclosed whether the equity stake will be involved in its portfolio startups.

Corporates supporting startups in mentoring and capital support has been a rising trend among the startup ecosystems globally. In India, multinational giants and software powerhouses including Google, Microsoft, Target, Cisco, Pitney Bowes, Reliance, Tata, Oracle, SAP, etc., have been running incubation or accelerator programs to capture innovative startups.

Additionally, Suzuki, the parent of Maruti Suzuki Ltd, would start production of lithium-ion batteries for automobiles at its plant in western India from 2020. Suzuki said that EVs are expensive due to the high cost of batteries which are still not manufactured in India.

To recall, Hyundai Motors, which Maruti's top competitor in India, has already tapped into Indian Startup Ecosystem as in November last year, Hyundai led INR 100 Cr funding of Revv, a Delhi-NCR based shared mobility platform.

Also in this month, India's leading automotive R&D organization, Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), has announced that it will set up a new mobility research center to test the futuristic vehicles like autonomous and connected or IoT-enabled vehicles. The announcement was made by Rashmi Urdhwareshe, Director of ARAI.

Sodexo Launches Accelerator for Food Services Startups in India

Sodexo, a French food services and facilities management giant, has launched India's first-ever food accelerator to help startups in the $14 billion food services ecosystem. The accelerator will be operated in partnership with Zone Startups.

The startups, that Sodexo will choose for its accelerator program, need not necessarily be food apps and these can be companies solving some real-life problems with or without the help of technology.

Mumbai-based Zone Startups India will help Sodexo in conducting bootcamps, connecting startups with companies and investors in the food ecosystem and formulating go-to market strategy.

Notably, Sodexo runs a 3-months accelerator program under the name of Sparx Accelerator, however its not clear if the acceerator launched in India will be the same or under different name. The accelerator do not take equity in the startups it selects.

Rishi Gour, Country President, Sodexo On-Site Services India, said, “The urban food market continues to offer tremendous growth potential for Sodexo India and is at an inflection point with rapid digitalisation, evolving consumers and the entry of new players. With start-ups offering innovative technologies and business models, we look forward to creating new services together and generating a differentiated experience for our consumers.”

The accelerator will provide startups with access to Sodexo large corporate customer base. The company is also open to investing in these startups through its venture fund, said Gour.

While the accelerator will not be making any investments in the selected startups, it may use their services through partnerships, or in future, if there are synergies, it may also look at acquiring a few of them.

Sodexo also has a venture capital arm called Sodexo Ventures, which has made six investments so far, and having made the most recent investment in China's AEYE-GO, in last month only.

In France, Sodexo has picked up a majority stake in a food delivery company called FoodCheri that was a part of its food accelerator.

“Here in India, we are looking at certain B2B food companies. We are at present inviting applications, and by the end of January, we will select a few,” Gour said.

He added that if Sodexo identifies a startup that has the potential to scale up globally, its €50 million venture fund might look at investing in them.

Sodexo, which is well-known in India for its flagship Sodexo meal vouchers, is globally known for its facility management services which include operating cafeterias and food canteens for corporates, manufacturing units and institutions. In India, the company is also trying to reach out to the consumers indirectly through its on-site services.

Ajay Ramasubramaniam, Director of Zone Startups India, said that, “In the last few years, food-technology has been disrupting the start-up ecosystem. This has led to the emergence of several innovative consumer brands that need funds and hand-holding to scale up further."

It may be recalled that this is not the first food related accelerator in India, as in 2015 Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), IIM Ahmedabad has launched India’s first Food & Agri-Business accelerator for startups in food and agri-business sector.

In September last year, GSF, Ia tech accelerator founded by Rajesh Sawhney, and Infobridge have had launched Agrifood tech accelerator called "Gastrotope".

Source - Business Line

[Top Image - LuxHerald.com]