CM Bhagwant Mann Introduces 16 Startups Selected For IMPunjab’s Cohort

Punjab’s Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has introduced the first cohort of IMPunjab’s (Innovation Mission Punjab) accelerator programme. The cohort comprises 16 Punjab-based startups.

IMPunjab accelerator is a sector-agnostic program that will offer INR 3 Lakh to 16 startups as an experimental capital. The accelerator will offer guidance and mentorship to the selected startups for a period of three months and thereafter, present them to investors on the demo day that will take place in the second week of December. 

“All startups will be part of the accelerator program for about three months. So, three months is like dedicated support and post that, we will give handholding support. Here, the specific agenda of handholding is fundraising and connecting startups with the investors,” said Abhishek Purohit, head of accelerator program at IMPunjab. 

Purohit further informed that post the accelerator program, some startups (from the cohort) will be raising Series A funding up to $1 Mn while others will look to raise seed or pre-series A funding up to $500K.

Notably, IMPunjab’s accelerator program is launched against the backdrop of reduced fundraising activities in the startup ecosystem. 

As per Inc42 analysis, so far in 2022, startups have concertedly raised $19.7 Bn, down by 76% as compared to the corresponding time frame in yesteryear (2021). Funding winter, market inflation, low investors’ confidence and geopolitical tensions are prime reasons as to why startups faced headwinds in the sector.

Talking about semi-private organisation IMPunjab, it claims to have on boarded over 650 startups through several initiatives including Monthly Innovation Challenge and Startup Day, among others. 

Talking about IMPunjab’s accelerator program, here is the list of 16 startups that were selected for its first cohort.

The 16 Startups At IMPunjab’s First Cohort

Countryside Express

Founded In: 2019

Sector: Logistics

Countryside Express is a freight logistics startup. Based in Mohali, the startup also offers low-cost logistics services in rural areas of India. It allows customers and corporates to book shipments, track as well as organise them via its online platform.

Add Veda 

Founded In: 2012

Sector: Ayurveda/Healthcare 

Add Veda is an ayurvedic direct-to-consumer brand. Based in Ludhiana, the startup offers various ayurvedic products ranging from supplements to medicines to cosmetic products. Notably, it has applied for a patent for its glucose intolerance treatment. 

DreamBIG Education

Founded In: 2020 

Industry: Edtech

DreamBIG is an edtech platform that helps Group C and D government employees to prepare for promotional exams ( that take place within a department). Based in Chandigarh, the startup has employed retired government employees that teach curated courses on the platform.

Black Eye Technologies 

Founded In: 2020

Industry: Artificial Intelligence  

Black Eye builds internet of things (IoT) products such as smart sensors and mobile-based user interfaces for agriculture, veterinary and healthcare sectors. It also develops products for environmental safety and reduction in global warming. 

Cipher Schools

Founded In: 2020

Industry: Edtech  

Cipher is an edtech startup that offers free reward-based online courses to students and working professionals. It offers a slew of courses such as data science, SQL, Java, Python, and full stack web development, among others. 

Innvocon Learning

Founded In: 2020

Industry: Edtech  

Innvocon is an edtech startup that offers upskilling courses to college graduates and working professionals. Some of the courses that are offered by it are data science, data analyst, full stack web developer and UI/UX designer. 

Enthu.ai 

Founded In: 2021

Industry: Deeptech 

Enthu is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. It processes speech data of call centres and generates business insights in turn, helping businesses enhance their customer experience.

Manjha Technologies

Founded In: 2022

Industry: Aquatech 

Manjha helps connect aquaculture farmers with all stakeholders of the industry. It assists farmers in having access to medicines, fish feed and financial capital. It is recognised by the central ministry of fisheries. 

Rimone Ingenious

Founded In: 2020

Industry: EV Infrastructure

Rimone is a sustainable mobility infrastructure provider. Its app-based platform offers a network of charging stations to individual EV users and corporate companies. 

Pickkup

Founded In: 2020

Industry: Logistics 

Pickkup is a mobile-based logistics service provider. It offers on-demand transportation and logistics services to customers. Besides, it also allows customers to do real-time tracking and add multiple locations during the shipment. 

Scratchnest

Founded In: 2019

Industry: Electronic Hardware

Scratchnest is an electronic hardware manufacturing startup. It builds hardware devices which collect data using technologies such as RFID, Bluetooth and Data Loggers.

Verdant Impact

Founded In: 2020

Industry: Agritech 

Verdant offers animal husbandry and livestock-based solutions to Indian farmers. The agritech startup also offers animal care, animal mark certification, on-call services and credit facility to the farmers. 

Terafac Technologies

Founded In: 2021

Industry: Edtech 

Terafac is an edtech startup that upskills college graduates. It provides plug and play table-top factory courses to engineering institutes thus, helping them prepare students for Industry 4.0.

Vishwaaz.ai

Founded In: 2022

Industry: Deeptech 

Vishwaaz is a no-code audio creation engine that helps publishers, authors and other content creators to create audio files. It claims to build a 30 minutes audio file in just 45 seconds.

Vyavsay

Founded In: 2022

Industry:Hyperlocal 

Vyavsay is a hyperlocal platform that digitises local businesses. It connects retailers with their neighbourhood customers. Besides, it also offers logistic services to retailers by connecting them with delivery partners–Dunzo, Shiprocket, Shadowfax and Pickrr. 

Jaggercane

Founded In: 2021

Industry: D2C 

Jaggercane offers organic jaggery-based food products to customers. Some of its products include organic jaggery cubes and powders and coconut jaggery crumbs.