New Delhi: The Central government has selected as many as 15 startups, in the first-of-its-kind product accelerator program for innovators developing sustainable solutions, to start working on solutions for healthcare and agriculture domains.
This is the first cohort of the NIRMAN Accelerator Program launched by Startups Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC), IIT Kanpur. The accelerator program supported by the department of science and technology (DST), government of India, through its NIDHI scheme portfolio, will help solve challenges in the product development journey of indigenous innovations.
The programme takes a leaf out of the best methods and key insights from the two very successful national initiatives of SIIC, IIT Kanpur—The Ventilator Project and Mission Bharat O2. The programme was launched in July 2022, and the start-ups were selected through rigorous screening. This was followed by training, including residential workshops for getting the start-ups geared up to meet the challenges ahead.
The first three-day residential workshop for the startups provided the startups with a better understanding of funding opportunities, compliance & business opportunities for health tech and agritech startups, angel and VC funding for early-stage startups, compliance through Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), ISO and Government e-Marketplace (GeM) and ethos associated with team building.
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Representatives from VCs like growX, YourNest, corporates like DS Group, and government agencies like TDB, GeM shared their insights and learning with the startup founders in this program. Startups under the cohort got opportunities to interact with eminent speakers from government agencies, angel investors and VC communities, and prominent industry leaders.
Anita Gupta, head NEB division, DST, underlined this program’s importance in strengthening the country’s innovation ecosystem and creating startups focusing on areas of national importance.
Regarding the program’s response, Abhay Karandikar, director, IIT Kanpur, said, “NIRMAN accelerator program is expected to expedite the journey of startups developing cutting-edge, technology-driven innovations in these critical areas from prototype to market.”
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The cohort was encouraged to address the pertinent challenges of the Indian hardware sector through their innovative solutions. The accelerator program will enable comprehensive nurturing and fostering of the start-ups through effective mentoring and market access, and with the completion of the training period this month, the start-ups will get launched in their journey towards indigenous innovations.
The programme can build focused solutions to accelerate the journey of indigenous solutions from India to build a sustainable world. The startups selected under the programme are LCB Fertilizers Private Limited, Saptkrishi Scientific Private Limited, BomLife Private Limited, Polycycling Solutions Private Limited, Surobhi AgroIndustries Private Limited, Primary Healthtech Private Limited, Lenek Technologies Private Limited, Aana Crop Solutions Private Limited, Wander Continental Flyer Private Limited, Climec lab Private Limited, ProPlant Foods Private Limited, Meukron Technologies Private Limited, Xfinito Biodesigns Private Limited, Life and Limb Private Limited and NadiPulse Prognostics Private Limited.
