S. Vishnu Sharma
IIT Mandi Catalyst, the first technology-based incubator in Himachal Pradesh has selected nine startups for disbursing Rs 2 Crore under NIDHI Seed Support System programme of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
NIDHI seed support system is a sponsored programme of DST to provide financial assistance to the startups with promising ideas.
Startups desiring to obtain, startups need to spend at least three months in residency at IIT Mandi and successfully show their idea’s worth.
During 2019-20, IIT Mandi Catalyst was awarded the Nidhi-Seed Support System programme under which a total funding of Rs. 10 crore has been provided for the commercialisation of start-ups.
In August 2019, IIT Mandi Catalyst declared that it would disburse Rs. 10 crore in coming five years in a phased manner. Faculty in charge at IIT Mandi Catalyst Dr. Puran Singh said these startups have been with us for anywhere between six months to about three years.
IIT Mandi Catalyst: Great, 9 startups to get Rs 2 Cr.
They have benefitted from valuable technical mentoring from faculty and business inputs from industry mentors.
The startups are ready to scale up. ‘I wish them the best. There are many more startups in the pipeline that are building their product and may be funded soon.’
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In the recent seed funding round under the Nidhi Seed Support System, five out of nine startups are from the Himalayan region.
They are Leopan Motors, Greentrek Innovation, Genetico Research & Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd., Descatuk and High Five Innovation Labs (HFIL) Technologies Pvt. Ltd. IIT Mandi Catalyst will disburse a total of Rs. 90 lakh to these five start-ups for commercialisation.
IIT Mandi through its incubation programme is currently mentoring various startups, including from the Himalayan region, that are bound to create great social impact through their solutions in areas including waste management, health and nutrition, agrotech, clean and renewable energy, application of AI/ ML in solving large scale problems.
Startups recently selected for the seed funding include:
Biofi Medical Healthcare
The startup is working in the healthcare sector and aims to develop a low-cost non-invasive blood glucose monitoring device.
The non-invasive diabetic profiler will help in producing gentle blood pressure at the fingertips and blocking the stray light along with visible range wavelength which will enhance the optical properties of the finger.
A unique chemometric model will then convert the sensor data to a glucose value. A biometric option aids to differentiate data for each user to avoid collision of data.
The device also helps in detecting diabetic complications (ketoacidosis). The startup has raised a funding of Rs. 50 lakhs from IIT Mandi Catalyst.
EKA Antrepriz Pvt. Ltd.
The startup is working in enterprise management sector and is re-imagining and re-engineering the corporate travel ecosystem by providing a 2 part (APP + SaaS) solution to manage all ‘Travel & Expense’ category expenditures done by employees by building a business credit wallet that would enable employees to make policy controlled discretionary spends in real-time, making the entire expense reporting process redundant.
With the help of these modules, companies can save on fraud bills, paper trail cost, travel agency cost, credit card cost and overpriced SaaS solutions, while becoming more efficient. The startup has raised a funding of Rs. 30 lakhs from IIT Mandi Catalyst.
Arnetta Technologies
The Arnetta iBRMS (Integrated Breeding & Research Management System) is the smarter technology solution and approach to a seamless breeding data acquisition, analysis and management.
The startup, working in the agrotech sector, has a vision to positively impact the data flow in the worldwide agricultural ecosystem by building a disruptive, digital crop disease diagnostics solution enabling farmers and the allied agricultural ecosystem to optimise farmer efficiency and farm productivity.
The startup has raised a funding of Rs. 20 lakhs from IIT Mandi Catalyst.
Leopan Motors
The startup is working in the renewable energy sector and is focused on developing an Electric Auto Rickshaw that would help to cut down the operational costs for auto rickshaw owners who spend a lot on fuel and maintenance.
The E-Rickshaw will be equipped with the technology of a self-charging system that will help in maintaining the backup of its batteries all day. Leopan Motors has raised a funding of Rs. 20 lakhs from IIT Mandi Catalyst.
Greentrek Innovation
Working in the waste management sector, Greentrek Innovation is working on green technology to manufacture its products.
The startup is involved in creating high-value molten metals by recycling the steel waste thrown out by steel rolling mills all over the world.
From this waste, and through the use of its innovative process, pure molten metal is retrieved having an iron content of Fe 99%+.
It then alloys this pure metal into high-value steel and alloy castings through its innovative process, without using any power to melt, and creates no pollution.
The foundation of Greentrek Innovation’s business model is built on resource efficiency and reclamation of valuable minerals and materials and the restoration of the processing sites to a state of habitat, transforming them from Industrial landfills to Green Space. The startup has raised a funding of Rs. 20 lakhs from IIT Mandi Catalyst.
Genetico Research & Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd.
Working in the healthcare sector, Genetico Research & Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd. is developing a specialised health-IT system for experts and institutes that are engaged in diagnosis and research of rare genetic diseases.
The system will manage the patient’s data as per regulatory compliances in India and provide capabilities relevant to workflows in a genetic clinic.
One of its key modules is to provide an error-tolerant search capability to search any patient phenotype and store it in an ontology relevant to genetics. The startup has raised a funding of Rs. 20 lakh from IIT Mandi Catalyst.
Descatuk
Working in the clean and renewable energy sector, Descatuk is harnessing traditional skills of rural women of Uttarakhand for sustainable use of its natural resources: fibers and natural dyes to support their livelihood in sustainable environment in ethical, transparent, verifiable practices.
The researchers in this startup have developed a sustainable natural fabric which is warm in the winters and cool in summers with medical advantages. The startup has raised a funding of Rs. 15 lakhs from IIT Mandi Catalyst.
High Five Innovation Labs (HFIL) Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Working in the energy sector, HFIL Technologies Pvt. Ltd. has developed an Internet of Things (IoT) based cost-effective, accurate and efficient solution to convert each electricity meter to a pre-paid smart meter.
The pre-paid smart meter will replace the need for manual efforts for meter reading and uploading to the server which will lead to accurate billing and saving manpower cost.
With the help of this technology, users will be able to check their real-time consumption on an LCD panel of the pre-paid meter or in the mobile application. Through this, consumers can manage their electricity usage more efficiently. The real-time data in the pre-paid smart meters will also help in remotely identifying power thefts.
The startup has raised a funding of Rs. 15 lakh from IIT Mandi Catalyst.
DataKund
Working under the enterprise management sector, the startup is building automation tools for businesses that are using any digital medium regularly as part of their business process.
Where the world is focused on building web applications, this startup is focused on building bots to automate all those applications.
Primarily focus of DataKund is towards building tools for digital marketers, E-commerce sellers and freelancers. The startup has raised a funding of Rs. 10 lakhs from IIT Mandi Catalyst.