IIM Udaipur’s Incubation Center announced the fourth cohort of their ‘Launch-n-Zoom,’ a three-month accelerator cohort programme designed to provide start-ups with the resources and support they need to grow quickly, test the market, and become viable. IIMUIC is inviting technology-backed start-ups (pre-seed, seed, and growth stage) offering solutions to tackle challenges in the agritech and fintech sectors. Start-ups that have their prototype/MVP ready and are in the process of scaling/marketing their products in the agritech and fintech stand eligible for this programme.
Apart from market validation, networking, mentorship, industry partnership, and incubation support, the cohort also includes investment opportunities up to ₹20 lakh for qualified start-ups. The programme is powered by the DST, Government of India, and is presented in collaboration with PI Industries and Fidelity Investments. As the corporate partners, PI and Fidelity Investments will mentor and guide agritech participants.
Kannan Soundararajan, CEO, IIM Udaipur Incubation Center said, “The fourth edition of Launch-n-Zoom supported by NIDHI Seed Support is a three-month accelerator program with a unique opportunity for the entrepreneurs to scale and grow their ventures with the help of our mentors, industry experts, and corporate partners.”
In the focus area of agritech, subject topics such as market linkage-farm inputs, farm mechanisation and automation, precision agriculture and farm management, quality management, supply chain tech, waste management and financial services will be covered. For fintech, concerns such as autonomous finance, financial primacy, banking-as-a-service, financial inclusion-retail customers, and financial inclusion- SMEs will be addressed.
A small number of high potential start-ups will be selected to take part in the 12-week programme beginning from October 25, 2021. The programme shall also provide rapid prototyping support to selected start-ups, and Amazon Web Services Razor pay, Zoho credits to all participating start-ups for free. Along with that, start-ups will become an alumni member of the start-up ecosystem and will continue to make use of the institute’s incubation services for one year post the acceleration programme.
Eligibility
- The venture should be a registered company in India.
- The venture has to be an Indian start-up. This support is not meant for Indian Subsidiaries of MNCs/foreign companies. Persons holding Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) would be considered as Indian citizens for this scheme.
- The shareholding by Indian promoters in the start-up should be at least 51 per cent.
- Selected start-ups should become an incubatee of IIMUIC and should have completed three months of incubation at IIMUIC at the time of seed fund investment.
Programme timeline
- Applications open: August 27, 2021
- Applications close: September 27, 2021
- Application screening: September 28, 2021 to October 15, 2021
- Result announcement: October 15, 2021
- Cohort starts: October 25, 2021