S. Vishnu Sharma
HST Startup Grand Challenge the startup pitch competition is inviting applications. The contest is being conducted by HST 2021 which is the annual flagship event of Technology Business Incubator of IIT Mandi.
The fifth edition of HST (Himalayan Startup Trek) 2021 will be held on 11 and 12 December this year. And the applications for HST Startup Grand Challenge can be submitted till 25 November this year.
HST Startup Grand Challenge
HST Startup Grand Challenge is open for startups, innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs. It aims at bringing together the stakeholders of Indian Startup ecosystem and providing a platform to young entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas for incubation support and to raise funding from investors.
Thematic areas
HST Startup Grand Challenge will be held across three thematic areas and they are:
➢ The New Age Alliance – Human-Computer Interaction with a prize money of INR 2 Lakhs [Sponsored by iHub and HCI Foundation, IIT Mandi]
➢ The Foothill Innovators Challenge – Build for the Himalayas with a prize money of INR 1.25 Lakhs [Sponsored by SJVNL and Compliance Support]
➢ The Habitable World Challenge – Environment and Sustainability with a prize money of INR 2 Lakhs [Sponsored by ALSiSAR Impact, Peak Ventures, The Solar Labs]
Each thematic areas of HST Startup Grand Challenge have prize money of up to INR 2 Lakhs to be distributed to the top 3 startups in the given themes.
Apart from this, top startups will also be provided with incubation support and funding access for prototyping as well product development through various funding schemes hosted by Catalyst and provide upto INR 50 Lakh of funding.
The event is supported by HP Center for Entrepreneurship Development of HP Industries Department.
More about the themes
The three thematic areas of HST Grand Startup Challenge ‘The New Age Alliance – Human-Computer Interaction,’ ‘The Foothill Innovators Challenge – Build for the Himalayas’ and ‘The Habitable World Challenge – Environment and Sustainability’
The New Age Alliance – Human-Computer Interaction theme of HST Startup Grand Challenge will focus on usage of computer’s intelligence and computation capabilities in decision making, prediction, estimation, communication, and processing.
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Under this theme, participants can pitch in their ideas related to:
● Brain-computer interaction
● Assistive technologies to aid and enhance human functioning and decision making
● Use of advanced technologies to enhance the cognitive abilities of humans
● Use of computer’s intelligence to aid human decision making, prediction, communication and processing
The Foothill Innovators Challenge – Build for the Himalayas theme of HST Startup Grand Challenge will revolve around addressing the issues relevant to the local terrain, population, environment, ecology, or focus on taking local products and offerings to the world by building supply chains, storage, or building capacity at different value chain levels.
Startups and aspiring entrepreneurs can participate under this theme with their ideas related to:
● Hill road safety, disaster prevention, and management
● Demand and supply-side challenges to Himalayan agriculture
● Vocal for local – interventions to scale local products and services
● Rural development – education, skill training, and employment
The Habitable World Challenge – Environment and Sustainability theme of HST Startup Grand Challenge aims to enable startups and innovators who strive to make the world a more livable and habitable place for all species.
The specific problem statements of interest under this theme include clean & renewable energy, waste management, e-vehicles, green solutions, recycling, and natural resource management.
Climate change and natural resource management. Startups, innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs working in this sector or budding entrepreneurs can pitch their ideas related to:
● Renewable and clean energy solutions
● Waste management and recycling
● Any other solution in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals
IIT Mandi Catalyst
It is notable that in its short journey, IIT Mandi Catalyst has supported over 160 startups in a range of sectors including clean energy, healthcare, enterprise management, agriculture, manufacturing, biotech, education, and consumer internet.
Catalyst has hosted over 100 such programs to date. Further, the funding needs of startups in the early stages are also met through the funding schemes hosted at Catalyst.
Catalyst, to date, has disbursed or committed over INR 6 Cr for prototyping and commercialization purposes to the startups.
Through its support programs, IIT Mandi Catalyst guides early stage entrepreneurial initiatives by providing support in infrastructure, finances, mentoring, and industry connections, thereby making itself an attractive destination for startups across the country.
Aspiring entrepreneurs
Inviting the aspiring entrepreneurs to take part in the HST Startup Grand Challenge, Professor Puran Singh, Faculty-in-charge at IIT Mandi Catalyst said HST has been the gateway to Catalyst’s incubation program for startups from across the country.
‘The thematic HST Startup Grand Challenge this year is the latest feature in HST. We are building capacity and expertise in these three areas and intend to handpick committed startups for support,’ said Professor Puran Singh.
How to apply
Individuals willing to take part in the HST Startup Grand Challenge can visit the website ‘https://www.iitmandicatalyst.in/hst/’ to register for their participation.
Post downloading of the webpage, applicants have to press the button ‘Click here to Apply’ which will be located on the right side of the webpage.
Once the applicants click ‘Click here to Apply’ another webpage with url ‘https://iitmandicatalyst.typeform.com/to/fjiH7ZXr?typeform-source=www.iitmandicatalyst.in’ will download where they have to press ‘Start’ button to commence registration.
Once they press ‘Start’ they will see a url and clicking it will open a file containing information about the three themes of HST Startup Grand Challenge.
After knowing the information about the themes, they can press ‘Continue’ to start applying for the HST Startup Grand Challenge.
Applicants can access the information about the three themes of HST Startup Grand Challenge on the url ‘https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BSyRnk02ng-Y-A03SaVMU6srGzbjzb51/view’
Important dates
The registration for taking part in HST Startup Grand Challenge began on October 25 and the last date to submit applications to take part in the contest is November 25.
The applications for HST Startup Grand Challenge will be screened from November 25 to 30. The pitch sessions will be conducted from December 5 to 10. The final results and main event will be held on December 11 and 12.
