Kick-Start of AIM Smart City Accelerator’s 2018 Cohort

The Indian Government’s Smart City Mission has given a major boost to the Indian startup ecosystem to create smart technology-based solutions for some of the most pressing problems of our cities today. The constraints in our cities have driven a new way of entrepreneurs to find innovation in the unlikeliest of areas. Embracing this, the objective of the Mission is to ‘promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment through the application of smart solutions’.

Supporting the mission since 2015, Ashoka University’s AIM Smart City Accelerator is hosting its third cohort this year. The program is a joint initiative of Ashoka University’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, DLabs at the Indian School of Business, Microsoft and is supported by Holostik. The initiative will build a smarter India through nurturing and mentoring early-stage start-ups with the vision to create inclusive and sustainable impact. Each of the partners are premier institutes with leading experts conducting the contact classes so as to enable creative solutions and sustainable growth.

With its third year running, the program this round is focusing on the crucial areas of Healthcare, Sanitation and Waste Management. The 20 week-long cohort will enable the startups to create impact by amplifying the affordable and unique solutions they bring to the table. Resonating with the highly relevant topics, there was a staggering response to the applications. After an intensive selection process, Top 9 Startups including one from Singapore have joined the program.

The first three-day Contact Class of the year was held from October 24th – 26th, 2018 at Ashoka University. The launch event organised on October 26, 2018 introduced the cohort members and other stakeholders to AIM’s mission. The guest speaker for the day was Mr Arvind Gupta, a seasoned entrepreneur and CEO of MyGov, a platform for partnership and discourse between citizens and the government. He encouraged the startups and appreciated the commitment displayed by each of them.

This leg of the cohort was designed in such a way that each startup would leave with having solidified their basis of operations. The experts and mentors covered every aspect essential in the startup world. Sessions with fine-tuning the voice of the venture, correctly identifying the brand, pitching to the stakeholders, to the more technical topics of marketing, operating plans, legal requirements and scalability were covered in these packed three days.

AIM Smart City program will take the cohort forward with regular virtual mentor engagements for the startups until the next set of classes begin in few weeks!