SUMMARY
The MSH Investor Connect Programme in Mumbai attracted over 20 investors, including Rishiraj Kalita (AVP, Huddle Ventures), Rhea Sthalekar (VP, Capria Ventures), Kanchi Daiya (regional head – west India, IAN) and representatives from 100x.VC, Ah! Ventures, Ankur Capital, Vaillant Capital Partners, Blume Ventures, Equanimity Ventures and Piper Serica
The programme featured a wide range of startups from sectors such as healthtech, deeptech and electric vehicles
The event fostered valuable discussions between investors and government stakeholders on strengthening collaboration and empowering early stage startups
The fourth event under the MeitY Startup Hub’s (MSH’s) nationwide ‘Investor Connect Programme’ series once again brought early stage startups and investors together on a single platform, this time in Mumbai.
Following its successful runs in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi, the programme was held in Mumbai on April 19 and featured 10 startups supported by various initiatives of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
The event was powered by Inc42 and hosted by the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), the technology business incubator of IIT Bombay. Over the past 20 years, SINE has incubated around 220+ startups and supported 1,000+ entrepreneurs. The programme in Mumbai, India’s third-largest funded startup hub, attracted over 20 investors.
Notable attendees included Rishiraj Kalita (AVP, Huddle Ventures), Rhea Sthalekar (VP, Capria Ventures), and Kanchi Daiya (regional head – west India, Indian Angel Network) among others.
Beyond the chance to connect with potential investors and showcase their ideas, the featured startups also received valuable feedback to refine their pitches and the opportunity for in-person meetings.
As Kartik K, cofounder of healthtech startup Bramhansh Technologies incubated at SINE, IIT Bombay, told Inc42, “Early stage startups rarely get the opportunity to connect with investors in this way. Events like this allow us to connect with the right stakeholders and gain insights into our current progress.”
He highlighted the importance of founders directly communicating with investors and receiving relevant questions from important stakeholders.
Diverse Startups Take Centre Stage
The programme featured a wide range of startups from various sectors, including healthtech, deeptech, and electric vehicles (EV), showcasing the breadth of the Indian entrepreneurial landscape.
Let’s take a look at the featured startups:
Yellow Matrix: Founded by Arpit Chahande in 2023, the Pune-based deepetch startup assists automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in their product development journey by helping them in areas like upskilling and training, embedded engineering, custom engineering services and more.
Dopar Energy: Founded in 2020 by Hrushabh Jadav and Gitesh Mali, Aurangabad-based Dopar Energy specialises in creating motor controller solutions to meet the unique needs of India’s growing EV industry.
Alfaleus Technology: The healthtech startup designs and develops products and services in a bid to make eyecase more accessible, affordable and effective. Headquartered in Hyderabad, the startup was founded in 2018 by Sandal Kotawala.
Adivid Technologies: Founded in 2017 by Kovid Sawla and Adesh Chopade, the Nashik-based startup builds agile methodology to provide solutions across data analytics, data visualisation and AI.
Living Things: Founded in 2019 by Madhusudhan Naik, Mumbai-based Living Things specialises in IoT-backed and AI-powered smart algorithm solutions to help companies in energy management.
JyoSH AI: Thane-based JyoSh AI is on a mission to build an integrated agriculture solution. The startup, which specialises in robots and AI, was founded by Dr. Sharadchandra Lohokare in 2020.
Bramhansh Technologies: Founded in 2018 by Jaideep Tiwari and Kartik K, Bengaluru-based Bramhansh uses patented technology that is a clinically validated drug-free wearable solution for migraine pain, stress and sleep disorders that aims to boost productivity during hectic working days.
FlyLab Solutions: Founded in 2022 by Atharv Naik, Rohan Shinde and Shubham Modake, FlyLab Solutions is the company behind DroneDekho. The startup claims to have covered 4,000+ acres of land, impacting 3K farmers.
Motorall: Founded in 2019 by Ravindra Joshi, Pune-based Motorall is a motor vehicle manufacturer. It has developed a hybrid kit for moped vehicles to convert them into hybrid EVs.
Simutomy: Founded in 2022 by Devarshi Shah, Mumbai-based healthtech startup Simutony offers surgical and medical training products curated by skilled surgeons, doctors and practitioners. It aims to make these solutions cost-effective and affordable.
Bridging the Gap Between Investors And Startups
The Investor Connect Programme wasn’t just about forging connections. It also fostered valuable discussions between investors and government stakeholders on strengthening collaboration and empowering early stage startups.
MSH CEO Jeet Vijay initiated the discussion by asking investors for suggestions on improving connections with startups via government-backed accelerators and incubators and increasing their visibility.
Tejaswini Gupta from Mumbai Angels said, “Investors are constantly seeking new types of startups and sectors. Regular investor feedback forms on the government platform would allow them to share their areas of interest. Additionally, dedicated sessions for investors to learn about startups and initiate conversations would be beneficial.”
Daiya of Indian Angel Network emphasised the importance of continuous support. “Demo days are a great start but investment and mentorship are continuous processes. Similar to platforms like LinkedIn where professionals can signal their job availability, a feature on government portals could allow startups to display their pitch decks whenever they require support from investors,” she added.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, has been spearheading various initiatives to nurture India’s startup ecosystem, with a special focus on fostering technology innovation. In line with MeitY’s vision, the MSH was established as a pivotal entity to facilitate and promote technology, innovation and startups in the country.
In the last three years, MeitY has launched several schemes like TIDE 2.0, SAMRIDH, GENESIS and SASACT to support startups. It claims to have funded 51 TIDE 2,0 centres and 22 SAMRIDH accelerators and created 43 COEs (centres of excellence). Through 50+ partnerships and multiple international programmes, MSH aims to enable the growth of startups via customer access, investor access and international market expansion.
