Startup Gateway for Garbage Free Cities
Ranked third in the world, India is now the hub for over 100 unicorn companies. India’s emphasis on technology and innovation has inspired young entrepreneurs across the country to tackle challenges and generate novel solutions. Notably, these startups are not confined to metropolitan or major cities, but also thrive in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), rolled out the Startup Gateway for Garbage Free Cities, in collaboration with Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) IIT Kanpur on 19th Sept, 2023, to call for applications for the second cohort of startups. This collaboration will support startups working at the nexus of technology and social innovation to solve India’s waste management challenges by improving the efficiency of waste management, increasing social impact, improving transparency of waste value chain.
Under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, Swachhata Startup Challenge was launched in 2022 to nurture the evolving startup ecosystem from the Indian waste sector. In this initiative by the Ministry, the 30 best ideas under 4 thematic areas of (i) Social Inclusion (ii)zero dump (solid waste management) (iii) Plastic Waste) Management and (iv) Transparency (Digital Enablement), were shortlisted. Besides a grant of Rs. 20 lakhs, the startups will get access to state-of-the-art infrastructure, R&D facilities and office space at IIT Kanpur campus, access to technical and business mentoring through a pool of subject-specific experts, business development support through engagement with States & Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), networking and investors connect for fund raising and scaling up and business acceleration.
SIIC IIT Kanpur has been helping these startups create impactful businesses through indigenous technologies in waste to wealth domain. In July, 2023, SIIC IIT Kanpur, organized a Bootcamp, for Waste to Value Startups, aiming to spotlight the exceptional startups that have flourished under the Startup Gateway for Garbage-Free Cities program. From engagement with ULBs, to go to market partnerships, from webinars and workshops on fundraising to field visits for survey, from networking events to thought leadership & ecosystem development activities, the start-ups have been guided, mentored and scaled up by SIIC IIT Kanpur within a span of 1 year.
The startups have made significant progress since the launch of the gateway. Just to name a few, EcoKaari, a social enterprise that transforms single-use plastic bags into beautiful and functional products, has expanded its reach to the European markets. The startups have facilitated partnerships with ULBs such as Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) and Commissionerate of Municipal Administration, Tamil Nadu. MiniMines Cleantech Solutions current pilot process generated compounds are been supplied to different govt. laboratories (CSIR), and academic institutes (IITs) for researchers working on Li-ion batteries. Saltech has partnered with Padcare to recycle their sanitary waste, and make building blocks out of it. Jalsevak has partnered with Garv Toilets to conduct pilots in public toilets segment for grey water recycling.
The last date for filing the applications for the Startup Gateway for Garbage Free Cities is 15th December, 2023. To scale up to 75, the next set of startups will be identified through this program in its second phase. With a funding support of Rs 20 lakh from MoHUA, these start-ups will be provided business development support and investor connect. An incubation support will be provided for a year. Scan the code to apply now or log on to https://linktr.ee/siiciitkanpur
