Uttishtha 2023: IIM Kashipur’s Event Facilitates Rs 5 cr Funding for Agri Start-Ups

The IIM Kashipur Foundation for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (FIED) recently helped facilitate Rs 5 crore funding for 15 agri start-ups at its annual entrepreneurship summit, Uttishtha 2023.

The Agriculture Ministry-supported initiative aims to add socioeconomic value to Uttarakhand's entrepreneur ecosystem by enabling raw entrepreneurs to realize their dreams. According to a statement, Uttishtha 2023 also hosted over 100 start-ups and nearly 20 venture capitalists to exchange ideas.

"We are establishing socio-economic impact in the home State by entrepreneurship development with the support of the State and Centre," said Kulbhushan Balooni, Director, IIM Kashipur. The FIED team has incubated over 140 start-ups, which have directly employed over 1,200 people and impacted over 500,000 farmers."

"We have seen our incubators team going in the exterior and the remotest places in the State to identify entrepreneurs with unique business ideas who can represent the future of Indian business," says Safal Batra, Director of FIED. "The third generation of farmers is expanding beyond crop cultivation and into food processing and business start-ups. We brought them into the mainstream business by providing the right platform for bringing in the right human resources, branding, investors, larger market place, price, and packaging."

Bijak, LoopWorm, and Greenpod Labs are some of the IIM Kashipur FIED incubated start-up success stories. Clothing made from bamboo fabric, interior design articles made from cow dung, a crockery range derived from bamboo, a range of toys made from wood waste, a drone for pesticide spraying in agricultural fields, honey-coated dry fruits, organic fertiliser, wellness products, handicrafts and hand-knits, as well as an immunity thruster made from agricultural produce, and incense sticks made of recycled flowers were among the business ideas presented at the event.

The Indian Institute of Management Kashipur is a new addition to the IIM family. The institute seeks to generate & disseminate knowledge in emerging areas of management through applied and interdisciplinary research and practises.