Social Innovation Lab Program – India

All 75 startups shall receive mentoring from Citi’s executive leadership and IIT Kanpur’s empanelled Industry and academia mentors throughout and after the 18-month program. Cohort members shall benefit from networking and follow-on investment opportunities facilitated through dedicated workshops, networking engagements, focused Demo days and startup showcase.

Social Innovation Lab by CITI will support

• 30 early-stage for-profit startups each in AgriTech and CleanTech.
• Accelerate 15 growth-stage high-impact startups in AgriTech and CleanTech.
• Early-stage startups get a kick-off grant of up to INR 12.5 lakhs each.
• Startups under Acceleration program will receive up to INR 25 lakhs grant each.

What’s in it for Startups?

• Access to IIT Kanpur Infrastructure at non-commercial rates
• Access to IIT Kanpur’s mature startup ecosystem
• Collaboration Opportunities
• Patent and technology transfer facilitation
• Networking engagements with Industry and Government bodies
• Platform for follow-on-investments
• Sector focused Demo-day and Startup showcase events

Focus Areas

• AgriTech
  • Farm mechanization & automation
  • Farming as a service (FaaS)
  • Value chain pilferage and leakages
  • Post-harvest loss management
  • Soil & plant health
  • Food Security & Enhanced Nutrition
  • Agri-Entrepreneurship
  • Dairy, poultry farming and animal husbandry technology solutions
  • Farm input management and farm gate value addition
  • Smart food processing units
  • Financial inclusion for Agri-communities
  • Solutions addressing volatile pricing & Insufficient Market Linkages
  • Supply chain, Food processing & Cold storage
  • Transparency in Agriculture
• CleanTech
  • Circular Economy (Waste to Wealth)
  • Green & Renewable Energy
  • Environmental, social & Governance (ESG)
  • Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH)
  • Natural Resource Management & Minor Forest produce
  • Pollution (air, water and soil) Mitigation
  • Climate change management

Eligibility Criteria

• Startups whose focus aligns with the program areas.
• Startups incorporated and based out of India.
• Each startup must have at least one full-time employee.
• The product or technology provides a functionality/capability not available in any off-the-shelf product, or a functionality/capability that can be demonstrated to possess a competitive advantage.
• The product or technology offered by startup represents original ideas, wholly owned, with freedom to use or is licensed by the startup.
• The team has formed, or is a part of, a recognized, legal entity as its company’s structure.

For more information, visit CITI.