MeitY Startup Hub Investor Connect Programme Brings Together 10 Startups, 25+ Investors In Delhi NCR

The MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) ‘Investor Connect Programme’, held at Amity Innovation Incubator in Delhi NCR on April 10, 2024 as part of a nationwide series, brought together 10 startups, over 20 investors, and industry leaders.

Ten startups solving unique real-life problems pitched to the marquee investors, including Manan Anand, investment associate at GrowX ventures; Vikas Aggarwal, cofounder of We Founder Circle; Chinmaya Saxena, partner, community strategy at Beenext; Ashwin Sinha, investopreneur at AdvantEdge Partners; Priyank Garg, managing partner at IAN Alpha Fund; and Ashita Gupta, principal partner at Merak Ventures and more, at the event 

The programme, organised by the MSH and supported by Amity Innovation Incubator and Inc42, saw startups from sectors like fintech, edtech, artificial intelligence (AI), analytics and agritech showcase their products and solutions to investors.

The host of this investor meet was Amity Innovation Incubator which was established in 2008 under the leadership of its president, Dr Aseem Chauhan. Its mission is to create a comprehensive ecosystem that nurtures entrepreneurs and fosters a culture of innovation at the grassroots level. 

Supported by NITI Aayog under the Atal Innovation Mission Scheme, it stands as an Established Incubation Centre. Additionally, it is backed by DST, MeitY, MSME, iDEX, StartinUP, strengthening its commitment to fostering innovation.

To date, it has impacted over 850+ ventures, serving as a catalyst for its growth. Its investment arm, Amity Capital Ventures, has played a pivotal role in aiding investments in 90+ ventures, with a dozen successful exits, it claimed.

Amity innovation Incubator has a network which spans across 17 major cities in India and is globally present in countries such as the US, Dubai, Uzbekistan, Singapore and Mauritius.

“In this age of rapid technological advancement, investing in emerging technologies such as blockchain, IoT and AI holds the promise of significant returns. These technologies are not just buzzwords; they represent the frontier of opportunity, offering transformative potential across industries,” said Amity Incubation Centre CEO Ojasvi Babber. 

“We believe that such kinds of events at the right time are crucial to a startup’s success. Since it is the early round of funds with the right investors, which ensures a unicorn journey for budding startups,” Babber added. 

Ingenious Solutions Presented At Investor Connect

The Investor Connect Programme brought together startups from diverse sectors. While Finnovus Technologies represented the fintech sector, Bioveda and LiaPlus AI represented the agritech and AI sectors, respectively. 

Most of the startups which showcased their solutions at the event have been supported under various schemes by the MSH and its respective incubators or accelerators. The startups ranged from pre-revenue stage to those with an ARR of INR 40 Cr and above. About 40% of these startups have a woman founder/ cofounder. 

The programme enabled startups to receive constructive feedback from investors for sharpening their pitches and business models. 

Girish Shivani from YourNest Ventures expressed interest in LiaPlus AI and Skyware Technologies. He said while the pitches of the startups were informative, some of them have scope to further hone their presentation skills. 

Saxena commented that most of the startups were either too early or in a category where they have already invested. He went on to say that startups must pitch sharply on one or two key elements, that is their strongest point. They must highlight why they have the right to win in such short presentations, instead of talking about projections. 

The Investor Connect Programme, being held across the country, is providing startups exclusive slots with investors to pitch and raise funds to scale their businesses. Meanwhile, investors are getting an opportunity to come across startups solving unique problems and assess them. 

A Look At The Featured Startups

• Finnovus Technologies (CreditSiddhi)

Founded in 2020 by Chetan Pandya, CreditSiddhi leverages AI and big data capabilities to enable demand aggregation, efficient loan origination, 360-degree appraisal, quick disbursement and effective monitoring of loan portfolios for enterprises. 

• Erekrut

Erekrut  offers a comprehensive solution connecting campuses, recruiters, and jobseekers, with features designed to streamline placement processes and foster alumni engagement

• Bioveda Agro Ventures

Founded in 2022 by Mahua Hazra, Bioveda is an integrated online platform for Farmers – offering a range of agri-inputs at lower prices, agri-outputs at better prices leveraging the principle of aggregation and providing credit at affordable rates.

• LiaPlus AI

Founded in 2023 by Shailesh Jaiswal and Smridhi Seth, LiaPlus AI provides AI support to engage with a company’s users, generate leads, handle customer support and more. 

• ParkMate

Founded in 2021 by Dhananjaya Bharadwaj, ParkMate is a smart parking solution that gives a seamless parking experience to the user and businesses.

• TAssets

Founded in 2021 by Dhruv Bajaj, TAsset’s products revolve around invoice tokenization and confirmations, leading to smooth transaction-backed finance.

• Surgeup Technologies (Upsurge)

Founded in 2021 by Karan Baweja, Upsurge is a family-focussed financial platform that offers financial education for children through interactive educational content, games, and gamified real-life responsibility management.

• CFAUS India

CFAUS India is primarily involved in social services and was founded in 2020 by Maninder Hooda. 

• Skyware Automation

Founded in 2021 by Rakshit Satija, Skyware provides scientific storage solutions for post-harvest agricultural produce that can help a user foresee any spoilage of the stored commodity in the warehouses with the help of statistics in real time

• Lawyered

Founded in 2017 by Ashish Bhatia, Himanshu Gupta, Raghav Shekhar, and Shashank Tiwari, Lawyered claims to be India’s first legal advisory platform built exclusively for startups. Startups can book proposals from leading legal advisors or book zero-cost consultations.