Indigram Labs Foundation, a leading agri-tech focused incubator, conducted a Demo Day for its first Cohort of flagship accelerator programme. The start-ups presented their business model and ideas which evolved over rigorous mentorship training by the mentors, industry leaders and potential investors. Dr. Saket Chattopadhyay, CEO of Indigram Labs along with a few reputed investors were part of the assessment panel.
The panel of investors included Reema Subhramanium from Ankur Capital, Nilesh Lele, president of Chamber for Advancement of Small & Medium Businesses, Sandro Stephen from IAN (Indian Angel nNetwork), Subhadeep Sanyal, from Omnivore, Manoj Arora CTO from Crest Innovations Foundation, Sachin Oswal, a reputed Angel Investor.
The start-ups that were shortlisted were from 105 applicants and out of which 27 were selected for the first round. As part of the programme the start-ups were given access to business mentorship and business support services. A national level selection committee was formed with reputed experts from the ecosystem who screened the applicants after a virtual pitching session held during 18th-20th March 2021.
After meticulous screening, 10 startups were selected for the first cohort of the acceleration program. The following MVP-crossed Agritech/ Foodtech startups were selected for the first cohort: Vesatogo Innovations Pvt Ltd, Shuvoneel Ras System Pvt Ltd, Vir Naturals Pvt Ltd, Agsmartic Technologies Pvt Ltd, Chlorohemp Agrotech Pvt Ltd , Ai-Genix International Pvt Ltd , Raav Techlabs Pvt. Ltd, Mandigate Pvt Ltd , Greenpod Labs Pvt Ltd and Freshet Spring Pvt Ltd.
Speaking about the Demo Day, Dr. Saket Chattopadyay said. “Scaling up after MVP is a pressing problem for Indian startups especially in agritech and foodtech sectors. The BIRAC’s BioNEST at ILF programme is tailor made to support agritech and foodtech start-ups in rapid scaleup, mentoring support, and business growthBIRAC has given an opportunity to ILF, recognizing the strength of ILF which has a rich experience in providing quick market access to startups”
“ILF is doing its level best to make this program a grand success by bringing in the finest mentors who are providing guidance in market access, linkages to R&D organizations, refining business business models, thereby ensuring the success of these innovative startups,” he added.
The Demo Day marks the beginning of the journey of the start-ups from these sectors towards scaling their offerings and attracting potential investments. The vision to start the acceleration program was to hand-hold the startups at pre-commercialization stage so that they successfully graduate to the scale-up stage.