India’s First Water Accelerator Program

Published on by in Business

India’s First Water Accelerator Program

The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad’s technology business incubator – Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) – is launching the country’s first water accelerator

With an aim to kick-start the ecosystem for water innovation and technology in India, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad’s technology business incubator – Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) – is launching the country’s first water accelerator.

The CIIE is launching it in partnership with Asian Development Bank, Arghyam Foundation, Luminous Water Technologies’ Livpure, the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program, and the other reputed purification solution providers.

The program aims to accelerate, nurture, and invest in early stage start-ups by selecting 10 to 12 teams that have the potential to become scalable and competitive enterprises. Selected start-ups will be provided intensive capacity building, mentoring and advisory support by leaders in industry, government, academia and practitioners.

Mudit Narain from CIIE who leads the program said, “This program is unique in several ways. First, the Government of Rajasthan is expected to review and award pilots to the top startups to field test their solutions. Second, the program is going to run a separate track to support non-profits looking to become financially independent or scale rapidly. Finally, it also invites passionate individuals looking to venture out in the water and sanitation sector and plug them into existing companies to launch new products”.

Applications will be invited from early-stage startups working on breakthrough technologies and business models in various areas such as water supply, sanitation, treatment and purification, water management and mobile technology, irrigation and Internet of Things (IoT).

Kunal Upadhyay, the CEO of CIIE, said “Promoting entrepreneurship in sectors that affect a wide cross section of Indians, in rural or urban areas, can be a strong tool to bring together local knowledge for proper implementation of new technologies. Entrepreneurs are able to capture consumer preferences, and this model will improve service delivery in India, especially in critical sectors like water and sanitation.”

CIIE will also assemble leading water focused funds and companies such as Livpure to consider potential investment in the short-listed ventures, while the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) at the World Bank is the accelerator’s knowledge partner.

Source: IndianExpress

Media

Taxonomy