The Government of India has launched a new initiative called AGRI-UDAAN in an attempt to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector. The program will mentor startups and help them connect with potential investors.
This Food and Agribusiness Accelerator 2.0 program was launched by the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management and will be managed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR.) The Deputy Director General of Agricultural Education at ICAR Narendra Singh Rathore, said the idea behind the program was to attract the youth from around India and train them.
The shortlisted agri startups will undergo intensive training for six months following which they will be connected with the investors for funding. The startups will also be able to access incubation space and research laboratories and libraries, under the program. These startups also stand a chance to get up to $ 40,000 in funding. IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship will also be partnering with the program along with the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) and Department of Science and Technology (DST.)
The program will reach out to agriculture based startups in several cities like Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad with a series of road shows. The applications, which will be available at www.aidea.naarm.org.in, will be evaluated by a team of mentors from the industry and 40 startups will be selected. The shortlisted startups will get a chance to pitch in front of a panel of evaluators out of which 8-12 startups will be selected for the final cohort for the capacity building workshop.
The pre launch phase of the program was launched in 2015 by the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NARM) in Hyderabad. Eight startups out of the 200 who applied were selected and a total of Rs. 2.5 crores was invested in three startups. The startups incubated by this program are now able to process exotic grains, manufacture kinetic farm machines and develop smart irrigation systems.