Kanpur | An IITKanpur incubated startup – Workers Union Support has been featured on the NASDAQ tower, New York. The NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center had selected Workers Union Support (WUS) for the Milestone Makers Spring Cohort 2021, which supports startups working on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal – Reducing inequalities. The start-up was incubated at IITKanpur in 2021.
WUS was the only Indian startup selected among the global cohort of 13 startups. The startup was incorporated on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for the ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat App Challenge’. WUS aims to improve the lives of 500 million workers in India and 3.3 billion workers globally by building a Unified-digital community for workers and unions.
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Congratulating Prasoon Sharma, founder of WUS, Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, Professor- In-charge, Start-up Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) – IIT Kanpur said, ‘WUS has brought a digital platform to cater to the financial, healthcare, legal support, insurance coverage needs of the blue-collar workers with utmost caution and care. As we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, innovators must readily focus on providing solutions to the underserved communities. Through its services, WUS has taken a step forward towards nurturing a resilient and sustainable future for this section of the society. SIIC is proud of their achievements.”
COVID-19 has deepened existing inequalities, hitting the poorest and most vulnerable communities the hardest. The pandemic has significantly increased global unemployment and dramatically slashed workers’ incomes. Indian government is building a national worker database for better resource management to provide resources and help to workers, especially blue and grey collar workers. Through the Milestone maker program and mentors, WUS would solicit support from international organizations such as International Labour Organization (ILO) to bring global resources and support for the Indian blue and grey collar workers.
WUS has signed an MoU with the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet (GASP). Under the mentorship of Erik Solheim, Ex-Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Dr Satya, Ex-Assistant General Secretary United Nation (UN), GASP and WUS will work jointly to deliver transformative Environmental and Social Impact with a special focus on enhancing the ‘GDP of the Low-income workers’.
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Considering the social impact WUS is creating, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTy, GOI) under the prestigious TIDE 2.0 (Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs) program extended support for WUS.
Dr Nikhil Agrawal CEO, SIIC & C3i Hub, IIT Kanpur said, “SIIC IIT Kanpur aims to foster an incredible, indigenous ecosystem of change-makers driven to create global impact. The WUS team aims to do the same; create disrupting impact at the bottom of the pyramid. Being the only Indian startup in the Nasdaq Milestone Makers Cohort is a first step in a series of upcoming achievements for WUS.”
By EP Web Desk
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