INFUSE Venture Accelerator Launched to Encourage Innovation in CleanTech in India
India is the world’s 5thlargest consumer of energy and as per a Planning Commission report if the world’s largest democracy has to sustain its growth, energy demand will grow 41% by 2017. The recent massive power outages highlight this pressing problem. Clearly, the cleantech sector in the country is of national significance if this demand has to be fulfilled and managed.It is with this in mind that INFUSE (Indian Fund for Sustainable Energy) Ventures, has launched the Infuse Venture Accelerator (IVA) aimed at catalysing the growth of early stage cleantech start-ups in India through access to seed capital and an enabling cleantech ecosystem. IVA is a 6 month long intensive accelerator during which the team and ecosystem will work actively with early stage cleantech start-ups - helping them identify and bridge gaps, define roadmaps, build strong teams and speed-up their market entry.
IVA aims to shortlist a handful of Indian cleantech start-ups through a rigorous evaluation process and provide them opportunity to:
- Access an ecosystem of cleantech experts (across verticals and functions),
- Build distribution networks, potential customers, suppliers, service providers, potential co-founders and policy makers - all collaborating to accelerate your venture.
- Create a strong advisory board and get mentored by the best in the field
- Forge close friendships with other like-minded cleantech entrepreneurs participating in the boot camp
- Rewind and review their vision, strategy and business plan; and get equipped with the necessary tools to execute it
In addition to the above, selected applicants will have access to seed equity investment (per venture) of up to $ 50K (~Rs. 25 Lacs) and follow-on funding of up to $ 2 million (~Rs 10 Crores) from INFUSE, apart from access to other potential investors.
Key activities are stated below:
- Acceptance of online applications from 2ndto 31st Aug
- Announcement of finalists for the boot camp at IIM, Ahmedabad: 7th Oct
- 8-day start-up boot camp at IIM Ahmedabad: 27th Oct to 3rd Nov
- Nov 3rd– Final selection of start-ups for incubation and seed investment
- November 2012 to May 2013 – Incubation period
- May 2013 – Re-evaluation of start-ups for follow-on funding
For more on INFUSE, visit their website.
