The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India in partnership with the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) launched the Swachhata StartUp Challenge to provide an impetus to innovative start-ups to come forward and drive catalytic transformation in the sanitation and waste management sector. In line with Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’, the Challenge seeks to promote an enabling environment for enterprise development under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 (SBM-U 2.0).
The Challenge was launched by Manoj Joshi, Secretary, MoHUA along with H.E. Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India and H.E. Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Union to India and Bhutan, in the presence of Ms. Roopa Mishra, Joint Secretary & National Mission Director, SBM-U, Government of India and Bruno Bosle, Country Director, AFD India.
The Challenge is open to startups registered in India and French actors collaborating with an Indian startup (as a joint venture). The primary mission of the Swachhata Startup Challenge is to support startups creating solutions across four thematic areas viz. (i) social inclusion, (ii) zero dump (solid waste management), (iii) plastic waste management and (iv)transparency through digital enablement. A financial award of INR 25, 00,000 will be extended to the top 10 startups from MoHUA-AFD alongside one-year of personalised professional support. Apart from this, eligible startups will get additional incentives which include up to INR 50 lakhs follow-on investment from Villgro, the implementation partner of the Challenge, and upto US$ 100,000 worth of credits and support from technology partner Amazon Web Services, to each winner.
Speaking on the challenge, Ananth Aravamudan, Sector Lead, Climate Action stated, “We are proud to be a part of this thought-provoking Challenge that aims to bolster the country’s evolving waste management ecosystem. In our capacity as the initiative’s implementation partner, we will put our best foot forward in enabling both MoHUA and the AFD to execute this challenge successfully. To that end, we will also help startups to get more capital from the ecosystem i.e. Startup India Seed Fund, and many more.”
Startups interested in partaking in this challenge are suggested to submit their online application form between Jan 27, 2022, and March 31, 2022. The pre-selection round will commence from May 1, 2022, to April 30, 2022, in which 30 candidates will be selected after a thorough screening process. The selection phase will span between May 1, 2022, and May 30, 2022, in which shortlisted participants will need to submit an electronic selection form, followed by a virtual pitch event which will then be succeeded by the selection of the final 10 laureates. The award ceremony will be held in June 2022.
