ACS Ignite, a start-up event aimed at empowering deep science start-ups to raise funding and mentorship was organised by the Student Chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in collaboration with ACS and Fortytwo at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) on Thursday. Over twenty start-ups got a platform to pitch their ideas to Venture Capitalists, who would go on to provide access to networks and funds.
Dr. Krishna Raghav Chaturvedi, Outreach Manager with the Global Strategy for Society Programs (GSSP) and part of the organising committee of ACS Ignite said that this event is a platform that provides start-ups with access and the opportunity to network and collaborate. “It will generate a lot of employment. That is what we are trying to do. So far India has incorporated more than a lakh start-ups in the past decade, and this initiative is just a step in that direction. So, we are putting everybody on the roof,” he said.
Innovative start-ups like Greenovate Solutions, Serigen Mediproducts, and AIRA Systems from across different cities in India and representatives from renowned VC firms such as Ankur Capital, Bharat Innovation Fund, and Enzia Ventures participated in the event.
Speaking at the event, Pathipati Srihari, an associate professor at National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) Surathkal, said “This is a wonderful idea. All deep science and deep tech companies have been nominated by their respective institutes to present their technological innovations. All the participants will have a kind of exemplary experience of how they can go ahead with their start-up activities in the future.”
JNCASR is a national supercomputing facility that is available for both scientists and outside users. Its facilities can be used by start-ups either in collaboration or pay-per-use mode. There are top-end experimental tools for both characterisation, fabrication, and making of materials.
Participants appreciated the event for providing entrepreneurs from different places to pitch their ideas to investors.
Pabitra Nath, Co-Founder and Director at Labdig Innovations pitched his clinical prototype at this event and stressed that such deep science events should be publicised on a larger scale. “There are many entrepreneurs from different regions who do not know about these opportunities. I think they would really appreciate the chance to come and talk about what they are working on.”
Ankit Khedia founder and lead investor at Capital-A said that such deep tech platforms are an amalgamation of academia, investor community and research. “Despite Bengaluru having deep science companies they do not get a lot of exposure to showcase their ideas We see at least 3,000 deals a year and if we can see 1% of that here in one single day, that saves us so much time.”
