IIT Kanpur launches “SBIF Innovators for Bharat” startup programme in collaboration with SBI Foundation

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur’s Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) has partnered with SBI Foundation to launch the “SBIF Innovators for Bharat” initiative which will provide incubation and growth support to “social impact-driven startups”. It was announced at the IIT Kanpur Outreach Centre at Noida.

SIIC, also known as the Foundation for Innovation and Research in Science and Technology (FIRST), together with the CSR arm of the State Bank of India, SBI Foundation, is launching the ‘Startup Innovations for Social Good’ initiative under the “SBIF Innovators for Bharat” programme. This initiative is being supported by SBI DFHI Limited and SBI Ventures.

The initiative will provide mentoring and funding support to startups which aim to tackle pressing social issues in India. The domains being targeted are agritech, healthcare, and cleantech.

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Startup funding at IIT Kanpur

30 impact-driven startups will be supported under this initiative - 24 of them in early stages, and six in growth stages. In a span of 18 months, the programme will ensure that these startups get appropriate mentoring support, funding, and constant performance monitoring, so that they can deliver the best possible results for societal improvement.

The initiative also plans to provide the startups with opportunities for networking and investment through workshops and roadshows, to reach the maximum potential in the domains of agriculture, healthcare, and environmental sustainability.

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IIT Kanpur and SBI Foundation initiative

Deepu Philip, professor-in-charge, innovation and incubation, SIIC-FIRST, said in a statement: “This collaboration focuses on developing transformative capabilities across critical domains of agritech, healthcare, and cleantech to achieve wider impact on the society at large. This joint initiative adds to our decades-proven legacy of backing both early and growth stage startups with a flexible incubation and innovation ecosystem.””

Sanjay Prakash, managing director of SBI Foundation remarked that the “SBIF Innovators for Bharat” initiative will provide funding support to high-impact incubators, like SIIC, providing incubation/acceleration support to start-ups which will focus on significant social issues.

The “SBIF Innovators for Bharat” initiative will be implemented in a phased manner through SIIC, IIT Kanpur, with SBI Foundation as its funding partner. The aim is to create a “robust incubation ecosystem” for Indian startups to flourish.