Comments
Start-ups mentored by Citi through its Social Innovation Lab, a collaboration between Citi, IIT Kanpur and T-Hub, presented their disruptive agri-tech, health-tech and fin-tech solutions to over 100 industry stakeholders at a start-up showcase in New Delhi.
More than 30 business discussions and over 20 investment discussions have been initiated at the event attended by prominent corporate and government stakeholders, angel investors, and venture capitalists.
“I am overwhelmed by the quality of the start-ups at the Social Innovation Lab-Startups Showcase. The interactions with the start-ups and IIT Kanpur and Citi teams were enriching. I wish them all the success in this event and in future,” Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder and Executive Chairman of Info Edge (Naukri.com) said.
Prof Abhay Karandikar, Director of IIT Kanpur, said “Citi India, IIT Kanpur, and T-Hub selected 29 social impact start-ups in healthcare, agriculture, finance domains under the Social Innovation Lab by Citi. The program has supported this stellar cohort through their product development journey and market access. During the program period, start-ups raised more than ₹60 crore from private investors and nearly ₹6 crore from the government and public grants. It is indicative of the quality mentoring and support offered under the program.”
These investments were over and above ₹3.5 crore the 29 start-ups received after they were selected through a rigorous selection process from over 300 applications.
The amount consisted of ₹10 lakh kick-off grants for each of the 23 early-stage start-ups and ₹ 20 lakh for each of the six growth-stage start-ups.
“Given India’s start-up community’s agility, market proximity, and deep understanding of the evolving digital landscape, these start-ups are well positioned to solve for the country’s challenges in finance, agriculture, and healthcare,” said Ashu Khullar, CEO Citi India.
“Citi initially supported funding and mentoring of these 29 start-ups and we believe they are ready to reach a new growth stage. There is so much potential in the years to come from India’s vibrant start-up community and we hope to continue to contribute to the start-up ecosystem’s development.”
Mentorship under Social Innovation Lab began earlier this year after a power-packed address by Infosys’ co-founder Nandan Nilekani on March 11, 2022.
Since then, the 29 start-ups have received mentoring, go-to-market strategy support, seed funding, intellectual property rights compliance guidance and market positioning, networking and scaling opportunities within the incubation ecosystems at IIT Kanpur and T-Hub.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.