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Swachhata Startup Challenge Winners Receive Rs. 25 Lakhs Grant From MoHUA and AFD | ||
New Delhi, Delhi, India
The Swachhata Startup Challenge, launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD), with Villgro as the implementation partner, concluded the closing and award ceremony, Swachhata Startup Conclave, on Tuesday, 20th September 2022, at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.
Top 10 winners of Swachhata Startup Challenge
The top 10 startups creating innovative solutions, catalysing the momentum of the waste management ecosystem in India, were felicitated by Shri Kaushal Kishore, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, H.E. Mr Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India, Ms Roopa Mishra, Joint Secretary and National Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission (MoHUA), and Shri Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
The top 10 startups will each receive funding to the tune of Rs. 25 lakhs from MoHUA and AFD as well as personalized professional and capacity-building support for a year. Eligible startups will also receive Rs. 50 lakhs in follow-on investment from Villgro.
Speaking at the event, the Ambassador of France to India, Emmanuel Lenain remarked, “France and India are committed to working together on tackling plastic pollution and waste management. The AFD-MoHUA Swachhata Startup Challenge is a concrete step in this direction, and we are proud of the overwhelming response it has received. I warmly congratulate the 10 winners whose innovative solutions will bring about socially impactful transformation to India’s waste management ecosystem.”
Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, interacted with the founders of the top 30 startups, who were featured in a booklet launched at the Swachhata Startup Conclave, along with their innovations. Two panel discussions, Sankalp, facilitated by Ananth Aravamudan, Sector Lead, Climate Action, Villgro, and Prerna, facilitated by Mohammad Azhar, Lead, Government & Public Sector Initiatives, were also held to discuss the challenges, learnings and journeys of Indian soonicorns and unicorns.
The Swachata Startup Challenge received an overwhelming response with a diverse application pool of 244* applications from 23 States and Union Territories, including 100 women-led startups.
The Top 10 winners are
About Villgro Villgro is India's foremost and one of the world's largest social enterprise incubators. Established in 2001, Villgro’s mission is to make innovative, impactful businesses succeed in Health, Agribusiness, and Climate Action. Since 2001, Villgro has supported 340 social enterprises that have raised over INR 4.28 billion in investments, created 5646 jobs and impacted over 20.8 million lives. Villgro was awarded the Top Incubator Award by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (GoI) in 2020 and the DivHERsity awards in 2022.
About Agence Française de Developpement
AFD is working on over 4,000 projects in 115 countries where it strives to promote health, education and gender equality, and to protect common resources with a focus on peace, biodiversity and a stable climate.
A partner of India since 2008, AFD works with Indian authorities to promote green and inclusive growth.
AFD operates through loans to State and public enterprises as well as through technical assistance programs to support sustainable urban development, energy transitions and ecological preservation in the country. |
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