SBI Foundation, Villgro to provide catalytic capital for 14 agritech start-ups
SBI Foundation and Villgro have announced the launch of their ‘Innovators for Bharat’ portfolio featuring 14 innovative agri-tech startups.
The launch event, held at Bangalore International Centre, was graced by senior representatives from SBI Foundation, Villgro and NABKISAN, according to a press release.
It also witnessed participation from several distinguished industry stakeholders including investors, financing partners, channel partners, CSR executives, among others.
“We aim to foster the development of tech solutions from these start-ups, ultimately improving the income of smallholder farmers and making their businesses more profitable and sustainable,” said Sanjay Prakash, MD and CEO, SBI Foundation.
The 14 startups supported by Innovators for Bharat were felicitated at the event, including Bharat Rohan, RAAV Techlabs, Navork Innovations, Marut Drones, GreyMatter (Upaz), Carbon Masters, Raheja Solar, Ekosight, Pasidi Panta, Agrosperity (Kivi), Krimanshi, RuKart, GreenSupply and E-Feed.
These startups focus on issues such as reducing post-harvest losses, creating value from agricultural waste, and mitigating carbon dioxide emissions. Over the next two years, the program aims to positively impact the lives of 10,000 individuals, promote sustainable practices on 60,000 acres of land, and prevent 15,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, the statement said.
“With the program’s initial funding of ₹3.25 crore, an almost equal amount of catalytic capital is being unlocked through our NBFC partner, NABKISAN, benefiting startups with a total of ₹6 crore,Maithili Rege, Associate Lead, Agriculture & Climate Action, Villgro.
The collaborative design of the program involves funding support from SBIF, which will also provide a network of banking and financial institutions for mentorship, as well as partnerships with civil service organizations for field trials and pilots.
Villgro will play a crucial role by offering mentorship, technical assistance, and market linkages. Together, this financial and technical support aims to help startups scale their solutions, making them more accessible to end users and creating lasting social and environmental impact, it added.
Innovators for Bharat is a flagship initiative by SBI Foundation to accelerate social innovation in India to find indigenous, impactful, and cutting-edge solutions to the most pressing problems in our country.
Under this initiative, SBIF selects and supports high impact incubators providing incubation and acceleration support to start ups in key focus areas including Climate Change, Agriculture and allied sectors, Fintech, Deep Science, Health-tech, and Tech4Good.
In partnership with Villgro, this program intends to empower social entrepreneurs to drive the transformation of Indian Agriculture towards profitability, nutrition, climate resilience and sustainability.