MoHUA-AFD’s Swachhata Startup Challenge announced for cultivating waste management ecosystem

The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India in partnership with the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and French Development Agency (AFD) is inviting applications under the Swachhata Startup Challenge.

The challenge aims to support innovative startups with scalable business models — catalyzing transformation and enabling social impact in the sanitation and waste management sector.

In line with Prime Minister’s vision for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’, the Challenge seeks to promote an enabling environment for social enterprises in waste management under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 (SBM-U 2.0).

The Challenge is open to startups registered in India and French actors collaborating with an Indian start-up (as a joint venture), according to a press statement.

The primary objective of the Swachhata Startup Challenge is to support startups creating innovative solutions across four thematic areas viz. (i) Social Inclusion, (ii) Zero Dump (iii) Plastic Waste and iv) Transparency.

A financial award of Rs 25, 00,000 will be extended to the top 10 startups from MoHUA-AFD alongside 1-year of personalized professional support. Eligible startups stand a chance to gain access to will get additional incentives which include up to Rs 50 lakhs follow-on investment from Villgro, the implementation partner of the Challenge, and up to $100,000worth of credits and support from technology partner Amazon Web Services (AWS), to each winner.

Villgro is calling online applications from startups through a dedicated micro-site (www.swachhatastartupchallenge.com) that details the key modalities of the Challenge. Applicants may also reach out to info@villgro.org for any queries and feedback.

Interested startups are required to submit their online application before March 31, 2022. This will be followed by a pre-selection phase from April 1, 2022 to April 30, 2022 and the selection phase will span between May 1, 2022, and May 30, 2022, in which shortlisted participants will need to submit an electronic selection form, followed by a virtual pitch event which will then be succeeded by the selection of the final 10 laureates.

Published on: Friday, March 25, 2022, 11:19 AM IST