Kanpur | North Delhi Municipal Corporation, launched CiTe- Civic Tech Innovation Launchpad in partnership with Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC), IIT Kanpur and Capri Global on February 25. CiTe is the first-of-its-kind initiative, where the startups and innovators will receive up to Rs 25 Lakhs worth innovation fellowship and prototype development support, with a chance to refine those solutions in unison with the leadership and officials of NDMC and SIIC, IIT Kanpur. This initiative is supported by Capri Global under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
The call for applications was open from February 25 to March 7 where any Indian startup and innovator could apply. More than 110 entries were received in the call for applications, after which 45 applications qualified for Round-2 on March 13.
On March 21, after the evaluation on various parameters, 12 applications were shortlisted, for the final presentation to be held before a jury via video conferencing on March 24.
The selection panel had Himanshu Gupta Deputy Commissioner, NDMC, Neeta Joshi, Head-CSR, Capri Global, Dr Nikhil Agarwal, CEO, SIIC IIT Kanpur, Jai Shankar Sharma, Mentor and Advisor, SIIC IIT Kanpur, Dr Sanjay Sinha, ADC, NDMC and Rahul Patel, Head of Strategy and Initiatives, SIIC IIT Kanpur.
After three rounds of the selection process, five projects were selected as winners across the domains of Sanitation and Hygiene, Water Management and Waste Management. These winners will receive technical and business mentorship at SIIC, IIT Kanpur.
Ashish More, Additional Commissioner, NDMC chaired the award announcement ceremony held via virtual conferencing on Wednesday. Congratulating the winners, he said, “It is a matter of pride for India to see our innovators embark on the journey to Atmanirbhar Bharat. Technology has the power to change lives and through this initiative, we are aiming to bring it to the core of civic problem solving. I wish the winners good luck in their journey with NDMC and SIIC”
Neeta Joshi applauded the synergy between private and public stakeholders and added, “CiTe is a novel initiative that reinforces the power of collaboration. We believe that this initiative is only the beginning of channeling technology to solve developmental challenges. Capri Global aims to support the winners throughout their journey of change and innovation.”
Professor-Incharge, SIIC, Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, shared his hopes from the innovators, commenting, “At SIIC, we are creating an army of innovators who are equipped to take on any challenge. We are grateful to North DMC leadership and Capri Global to believe in this initiative and look forward to churning the best of technology to address North DMC’s civic issues.”
By EP Web Desk
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