As many as 40 investors and investment funds have showed interest in 28 social start-ups that have pitched their products and services at a ‘Social Impact Bootcamp’ organised here on Monday. As many as 61 social start-ups have presented their ideas to a host of investors, including nine State Government Departments.
The virtual Social Impact Bootcamp 2020 (SIB) provided a four-week intensive mentorship and workshops for social start-ups from across the country. The start-ups represented a variety of areas such as healthcare, education, agriculture, skilling and environment.
“We have selected 61 start-ups out of the 95 applications that we received for the boot camp. The start-ups were asked to solve some pressing challenges faced by the society,” an official of the IT Department said.
A total of 36 mentors from various incubators within and beyond the State have mentored the start-ups. Post the mentorship, the start-ups were given access to workshops on funding, pivoting, pitching refinement, and impact measurement.
The bootcamp was organised by the Telangana State Innovation Cell (TSIC, Govt of Telangana) in association with tech start-up incubator T-Hub, Bala Vikasa International Centre, Nutrihub-TBI (a millet start-up incubator) and International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics.
“We organised exclusive department-specific pitching sessions, giving start-ups an opportunity to pitch their ideas to vertical heads of various governments,” he said.
“The bootcamp helped the start-ups discuss their ideas with key officials and explore opportunities for collaboration,” Jayesh Ranjan, Secretary (IT and Industries), said.
“Post-covid, the broader role a business should play in society has undergone substantial change, with ‘social impact’ element taking the centre stage. We at TSIC took a step to scout and rejig such 61 start-ups through mentorship,” Ravi Narayan, Chief Innovation Officer of TSIC and Chief Executive Officer of T-Hub.
While the programme’s objective is to mobilise stakeholders for specific support to social start-ups, it paved the way to build a vibrant ecosystem of social impact in the State,” he said.