SIB sees successful completion with 61 social startups, pitches to 20+ investors

Hyderabad: Social Impact Bootcamp (SIB) 2020 launched by Telangana State Innovation Cell (TSIC), in collaboration with T-Hub Hyderabad, Bala Vikasa International Centre, Nutrihub-TBI, ICRISAT, and AISEA, sees a successful completion with 61 social startups across undergoing mentorship and workshops on various aspects of the Social Impact and pitched to 20+ investors and 9 Government Departments of state.

SIB was an intensive four-week long mentoring program for social startups and enterprises that are solving some of the most pressing challenges we are facing today while contributing towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SIB launched in November 2020 saw 95+ applications which were then shortlisted to 61 startups, TSIC said in a release here on Tuesday.

A total of 36 mentors from various incubators within and beyond the state have mentored the startups with three hours dedicated to each.

Post the mentorship, the startups have also been given access to workshops on funding, pivoting, pitching refinement, and impact measurement thus finishing the cyclic need for any social startup.

The Bootcamp organized a demo day for investors where more than 20 investors from various organizations have heard of startup pitches.

About 28 startups have received 40 interests from multiple investors to further explore the solutions.

The boot camp organized exclusive department-specific pitching sessions where the startups have pitched to the Secretaries to Government, Special Chief Secretaries, and Principal Secretaries of the departments— Agriculture, Health, School Education, Energy & Environment, Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Women, Child & Disabled Welfare, Information Technologies, and Panchayat Raj & Rural Development.

Few startups have been facilitated with connections through which the solutions for pilot procurement are being explored.

Speaking about the Bootcamp, Principal Secretary ( IT & IC), Jayesh Ranjan said it paved way for 60+ startups across India to dialogue with State Government Officials in exploring the potential collaborations and has also set a strong base for Social Innovation Policy, the state is planning to launch.

TSIC Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) Ravi Narayan, said, we at TSIC took a step to scout and rejig such 61 startups out of 96 applicants across India through mentorship and various connections.

While the program’s major notion is to mobilize stakeholders for specific support to social startups, it also paved the way to build a vibrant ecosystem of Social Impact in the state inclusive of startups, NGOs, incubators, investors, mentors, and Government, he added.