More than 10 startups garnered 37 Expressions of Interest from participating investors, while two startups received on-the-spot soft investment commitments worth INR 2.5 Cr from the Native Angels Network
The participating startups were either part of Forge's portfolio or incubated by ecosystem partners like Crescent Innovation and Incubation Council (CIIC), Vel Tech Technology Business Incubator, Tamil Nadu Technology Hub (iTNT), and STPI FinBlue.
Organised by MSH, the Chennai edition of the MeitY Investor Connect Programme was powered by Inc42 and supported by Forge Innovation & Ventures as its knowledge partner
Several deeptech startups from Tamil Nadu showcased their technologies and received investment interest at the MeitY Investor Connect Programme in Chennai. Apart from this, Meity Startup Hub (MSH) played a key role in strengthening synergies between the key stakeholders propelling the growth of Indian startups — academia, government bodies, investors and industry players.
The event, which was part of MSH’s effort to recognise emerging early stage tech startups and provide them with a platform to interact with investors, has traversed from north to south, reaching cities like Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur and most recently, Chennai.
Organised by MSH, the Chennai edition was powered by Inc42 and supported by Forge Innovation & Ventures as its knowledge partner. It was held at the Forge.Fast Accelerator Centre in IIT Madras Research Park (one of Forge’s eight centres in Tamil Nadu) on May 3, 2024.
Coimbatore-based Forge is on a mission to build and operate a national innovation value network that catalyses talent and empowers technology-based innovations. It does so through its network of private industrial enterprises, public sector corporations and government agencies and departments who engage with deeptech startups to enable their growth.
Forge also offers technology labs, startup incubation, accelerator and seed funding support and strategic interventions to deeptech startups across all stages from innovation to commercialisation.
The participating startups were either part of Forge’s portfolio or incubated by ecosystem partners like Crescent Innovation and Incubation Council (CIIC), Vel Tech Technology Business Incubator, Tamil Nadu Technology Hub (iTNT), and STPI FinBlue.
The startups received an opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a distinguished panel of over 30 investors. Some of the prominent investor names in the panel included Apurva Chamaria from Google India; S; Vignesh Shekhar from Artha99.VC; Janardhan K from TNIFMC; Rohit Jhunjhunwala from IN44 Capital and Gaurav Chauhan from Mankind Family Office, among others.
Two startups from the group received on-the-spot soft investment commitments worth INR 2.5 Cr from the Native Angels Network. Additionally, 10 startups garnered 37 Expressions of Interest (EoIs) to invest from other participating investors.
Now, let’s steal a glance at the startups that lapped up investors’ interest at the MSH event:
Fabheads Automation: Founded by Dhinesh Kahagaraj and Abhijeet Rathore, Fabheads creates 3D printing machines and software for manufacturing high-end carbon fibre and composite parts. It primarily caters to the defence/aerospace, shipping, automotive and energy sectors. The startup boasts 10 patents across seven countries, including Japan and Europe.
AugurAI: This startup offers machine vision solutions to enhance quality assurance in manufacturing. It provides a complete solution that includes a special purpose machine (SPM), cameras and computer vision algorithms to identify defects in real time. AugurAI was founded by Ravishankar Rajagopalan.
PQSI Digital: Founded by Venkat Krishna, PQSI Digital offers real-time data integration across sources, functions and data structures to a common data-driven language to enhance the performance of manufacturing value streams. It delivers sustainable quality and yield improvements by monitoring over 1,55,000 critical quality parameters. Its other offerings include domain consulting, digital consulting, training and support.
Suzhiyam: Founded by Vivekanandan.J and Ananda Rajeshwaran, Suzhiyam manufactures agricultural waste and RDF (refuse derived fuel) based industrial pellet burners that aim to replace petroleum-based industrial fuel burners, offering significant reductions in costs and carbon emissions.
Deliverain: Deliverain offers an end-to-end digital platform that streamlines complex industrial operations. Its low-code platform empowers companies to digitise and automate workflows, improving operational efficiency, reducing costs and accelerating data-driven decision-making. It was founded by Vimalkanth Tummala and Gokul Rajesh P.
Signa X: Signa X is on a mission to build an industrial metaverse platform that enables businesses to build and operate virtual environments for their industrial operations. Founded by Aakarsh Naidu and Adhikar Naidu, the platform allows companies to create virtual versions of their physical factories, warehouses and other facilities. This allows them to optimise and streamline operations through the metaverse.
GoWatr: Founded by Mohamed Sathak, Shreekant Jha, and Asker Junaid, smart water management startup GoWatr provides end-to-end water management solutions through its innovative IoT-enabled smart water metres. These metres are designed for residential complexes, commercial buildings, and industries to help optimise water consumption, monitor quality and minimise wastage.
Konwert India Motors: This startup aims to disrupt the Indian auto-rickshaw landscape with groundbreaking electric conversion technology. Founded by Nickendra S and Koushik K, Konwert India Motors empowers existing auto drivers to convert their gasoline-powered rickshaws into high-performing electric vehicles through its domestically developed 72V powertrain.
GoFloaters: On-demand workspace startup GoFloaters provides flexible workspace and meeting rooms to individuals and businesses. It claims to offer access to over 2,000 professional workspaces across 45 cities in India, allowing users to book desks, meeting rooms and other workspaces on a pay-per-use basis without long-term contracts. It was founded by Shyam Sundar Nagarajan and Srivatsan Padmanabhan.
Chimertech: Founded by Dr Ragul Paramasivam and Dr Karthik D, Chimertech is developing rapid, point-of-care and non-invasive theragnostic technologies catering to the needs of healthcare providers and farmers with a focus on precision and cost-efficiency.
Inocyx: Crypto trading platform Inocyx aims to offer users access to multiple cryptocurrencies and blockchain products through multi-fiat options with ease and security. It was founded by Mohanbabu Velusamy.
