Startup news and updates: daily roundup (July 18, 2022)

C3iHub, IIT Kanpur launches second cohort of startups

C3iHub, the Technology Innovation Hub on Cyber Security of Cyber Physical Systems Program on Innovation Ecosystem Building at IIT Kanpur, has launched the Second Cohort of 14 startups under the Startup Incubation Program at an event held on July 16, 2022.

The event was graced by Prof. Ajay K Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India, as the Chief Guest. Other dignitaries include Dr Srivari Chandrasekhar, DST Secretary; Dr Rajesh Pant, National Cyber Security Co-ordinator; Naveen Singh, Director General, NCIIPC; Dr Ekta Kapoor, Mission Director, NMICPS, DST; Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Project Director, C3iHub, IIT Kanpur; and Prof. Sandeep Shukla, Co-Project Director, C3iHub, IIT Kanpur.

The mission of C3iHub is to address cybersecurity issues in cyber-physical systems like critical infrastructures, automotives, and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones).

Addressing the cohort, Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor, Govt. of India, said,

“Skilled cyber-attackers from many countries are targeting India since it has grown rapidly in the past few years. To safeguard India’s cyberspace, we need more security solutions or products in a timely manner since the trend of cyber-attacks is changing day by day”. He added, “PSA’s office is actively working towards giving big push to India’s startup ecosystem to make them sustainable with more funding and by roping in the industries.” 

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India Health Link Join Hands with Canopi

India Health Link (IHL), a digital health and medical device startup, is joining hands with Canopi by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for its hPod financing sanction for ($14M+), a Supply Chain Finance & Trade Finance Marketplace, to expand the deployment of an integrated, human-centric, preventive health screening ‘Phygital’ healthcare ecosystem in India.

To ensure the wellness of Indian patients via preventive screening, India Health Link (IHL) said it wishes to reach every Indian patient through a network of hospitals and doctors, and make its Health Pod (‘hPod’) and IHL Care available to them.

But, the challenge lies in the scalability of its Health Pod (‘hPod’) solutions. To make the ecosystem of scalability smooth and robust, IHL has collaborated with Canopi to qualify hPod under medical equipment financing and ease the adoption of its integrated healthcare screening ecosystem. Owing to the lending facility of Canopi, the preventive healthcare delivery will reach the maximum number of Indians who are deprived of the accessibility of primary and preventive care in the remotest part of the country.

Speaking on Canopi and IHL partnership, Abhay Asrani, Co-founder & Director, Canopi, said, 

“It’s great to collaborate with India Health Link (IHL) as its ‘Phygital’ ecosystem is instrumental in providing maximum people with the accessibility of preventive screening, which is the need of the hour to reduce the disease burden in the long run. We are also thankful to our Lending Partner Banks and NBFCs for providing support. We will continue to provide innovative, affordable, and effective healthcare credit solutions in the country through this kind of partnership. We wish to leverage our credit outreach to such healthcare companies who are instrumental in offering easily accessible and affordable healthcare solutions to the common people.”

Wiggles ventures into the home care segment with the Wiggles Kids and Pets Safe Floor Cleaner

Pet care brand Wiggles.in has launched its vet-approved, plant-based Wiggles Kids and Pets Safe Floor Cleaner, marking the brand’s foray into the home care product category. With the launch of its first home care product, Wiggles is building an ecosystem that caters to the physical, emotional, and social well-being of pets in a transparent and trustworthy manner.

Speaking on diversifying its product range, Anushka Iyer, Founder and CEO, Wiggles, said,

“At Wiggles, we are constantly innovating to offer safe and effective solutions that address the growing needs and concerns of pet parents across India. It is our endeavour to build a holistic range of products and services and become a one-stop-shop for all your pet's needs.

With pet adoptions on the rise, the market in India is in the midst of a very exciting phase with numerous need-gaps; it is young and evolving with ample opportunities for a brand like ours that is deeply rooted in science backed innovation & deep consumer insights.”

Conneqt and BillionLives join hands to accelerate ESG Adoption across enterprises

Bangaluru-headquartered Conneqt Business Solutions Limited and Billion Lives Business Initiative Pvt Ltd are joining forces to tackle ESG, one of the most critical areas for organisations. Conneqt and BillionLives will strive to work towards providing ESG-as-a-Service for organisations through collaborative business services and technology offerings.

This partnership combines BillionLives leading ESG technology, ImGrows with Conneqt’s domain expertise in delivering business solutions across the ESG Landscape. The platform will analyse and predict the organisation’s practices and ensure that organisation’s environmental, social and governance impact is managed.

Quick commerce startup Zepto Partners with Zypp Electric

Zypp, an e-logistic service provider, recently announced its partnership with Zepto, one of India’s fastest-growing e-grocery company, to facilitate last-mile deliveries. Extending a EV+Driver fleet of 1,500+, the partnership today is enabling more than 20,000 deliveries per day in Delhi and is also going to expand to Bangalore and Mumbai by next four months

Zypp is currently serving 50 Zepto hubs in Delhi NCR and envisions to grow its partnership by 10X in the next 12 months by doubling its fleet and areas of servicing nationally.

The partnership helped in reducing 1.02 million+ Kg carbon emissions via 17 Lakh+ deliveries.

SustainKart launches its first flagship store for sustainable products in Hyderabad

SustainKart, an ecommerce marketplace for sustainable products, launched its maiden flagship store at Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. The launch took place in the presence of chief guests Amala Akkineni (Indian actress & animal welfare activist) and Shikha Goel, IPS–Director of the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau.

The 3,000-square-foot store will offer customers sustainable solutions to everyday needs and encourage them to embrace a nature-friendly sustainable lifestyle. As part of its upcoming growth plans, SustainKart aims to launch 20 additional flagship stores and outlets in malls and airports across South India in the coming quarter.

WayCool launches tech company Censa to offer its tech stack to global food supply chains

Censa, a part of WayCool, offers technology stack in the food ecosystem. With a 200-member tech team, it offers technology products such as customisable SaaS solutions across six verticals, which cover the complete food and agri-supply chain: farm, processing, distribution, retailer, consumer, and finance.

These solutions seek to address every problem statement in the supply chain, ranging from crop health protection, disease detection and management, real-time mandi price, food processing, demand-supply matching, logistics management, last-mile optimisation, finance management, customer deliveries, inventory management, purchase insights, digital lending, and much more.

e2eHiring Signs MoU with ICT Academy, inauguration by IT Minister Govt of Tamil Nadu

Bengaluru-headquartered e2eHiring, known for its AI-powered recruitment and assessment portal, has signed an MoU with the ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu at the 47th Bridge Event at Chennai Trade Centre on July 13, 2022, in the presence of Thiru T Mano Thangaraj, Minister for IT, Govt. of Tamil Nadu.

The event was organised to find ways to build multiple Bridges between the industry, academia, and corporate. Monuranjan Borgohain, CEO e2eHiring, said, “This is a very special moment in our journey to get an opportunity to serve thousands of job seekers through ICT Academy.”

Alco-bev startup Swizzle raises seed funding

Swizzle, a Bengaluru-headquartered new-age alco-bev solutions provider, raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from multiple angel investors, including Dr Akshay Singhal, Founder and CEO, Log9 Materials, and Monika Rao, Co-founder and CEO, AIFMetrics. 

The company will utilise the funding to capture a wide market and both B2B and B2C customers, in addition to increasing the startup’s manufacturing capacity, marketing enhancement and new products development.

The startup is also aiming to increase its customer base by 7X by the end of this fiscal year. Swizzle is also currently in talks with VCs to raise a Series A investment round, and thereby, further bolster its pan-India expansion plans.

Kerala-based apparel startup Giacca & Abito Sartoriale Fashion bags investment

Apparel startup Giacca & Abito Sartoriale Fashion (G&A) received investment from Kerala-based angel investors Sonu Vaidya n and Dr Sony Vaidyan, Directors of Syama Dynamic Group.

Founded by Sreejith Sreekumar, G&A aims to make luxury fashion accessible and affordable for laymen. The startup sells pan-India, including in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, UP, Bihar, Odisha, Punjab, and Delhi.

Sreejith said that the investment is a definitive recognition of the company’s steadfast commitment to making luxury menswear accessible and affordable while not compromising quality.

(This article will be updated with the latest news throughout the day.)