Social Alpha's Techtonic challenge: An opportunity for cleantech start-ups to innovate for a greener future.

The consumption of energy and production activities make for two-thirds of global greenhouse emissions, according to a KPMG report. The report also highlights that renewable energy has the most potential to slow down the pace of climate change brought about by the increasing volumes of such emissions.

As the world reels under the effects of climate change, there is a need for technology solutions to catalyse adoption of clean energy. To this end, Social Alpha is inviting entrepreneurs and innovators working on clean energy solutions to participate in the third edition of its energy challenge ‘Techtonic- Innovations in Clean Energy’.

Start-ups that make the cut can look forward to winning incubation and getting access to innovation labs for prototyping, seed capital, techno-commercial pilot opportunities and market access support. The challenge will see 20 winning start-ups with innovative solutions from across renewable energy spectrum, striving to make sustainable energy not just more accessible, but also affordable.

The last date to submit the applications is March 31, 2021 and the winners would be announced in June 2021. Interested in applying? Click here to register.

This year, while the challenge is open to the entire gamut of clean energy innovations, Social Alpha has also prioritised some focus areas where maximum impact can be seen, both in terms of the quality of life of the underserved communities and climate impact. The four focus areas for this year’s Techtonic are: Energy for Livelihoods; Energy for Thermal Conditioning (space heating/cooling) mainly for underserved communities and areas; Smart Energy Systems (or Smart Automation for Grid and off Grid Applications); and Energy Storage (battery technology).

The programme is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goal as envisaged by the United Nations Development Programme and will help start-ups with disruptive, and impactful technology solutions to scale ahead.

What’s in it for start-ups

Incubation: The early-stage start-ups who make it to the top 10 in this category will be incubated at the Social Alpha-Atal Incubation Centre, set up under Atal Innovation Mission, a flagship initiative of NITI Aayog and will get access to a prototyping lab, shared CTO services, mentorship and credits worth more than Rs 10 lakh for availing the incubation services. The top 10 finalists who win in the post-pilot category would win incubation at the Clean Energy International Incubation Centre, a joint initiative of the Government of India and Tata Trusts, and is supported by Department of Biotechnology, BIRAC, Tata Power, and Tata Power-Delhi Distribution Limited and would also be eligible for support such as access to labs for product testing and development, go-to-market strategy support, product commercialization support, mentorship and credits worth more than Rs 10 lakh for availing the incubation services.

Acceleration: This is a unique offering where the Top 20 finalists would get an opportunity to do paid techno-commercial pilots (upto Rs. 25 lakhs), supported by the Industry partner Tata Power and the grassroots partner CInI for early-stage product validation in the real world context. The finalists with solutions for energy access also stand a chance to win scale up support from Social Alpha’s SDG-7 accelerator in the form of work orders upto Rs. 50 lakhs per start-up.

Investment: Apart from being considered for syndication in Social Alpha's investor partners network, the finalists will also get an opportunity to pitch for seed capital of upto Rs 1 crore per startup, to the Social Alpha Investment Committee

Special Provision for International Start-ups: International start-ups would be provided with a soft landing platform at the above mentioned incubators, depending on the product and technology fit and life stage, to help them get familiarised with the clean energy ecosystem in India before diving into the market.

Who can apply

The Challenge is inviting solutions in Pre Pilot and Post Pilot categories .

Don’t miss out on the opportunity! To know more on eligibility offerings Sign up now. Last date to apply is March 31.