• AIC-IIITH successfully conducted a roundtable on Startup Innovation in Climate Action facilitating a dialogue between Startups, Innovators, Government, Corporates, Investors, Incubators, Academicians, Ecosystem Stakeholders.
  • The discussion focused on topics like the necessity of collaboration between stakeholders, need for policy clarity to support the scaling of climate-tech startups both by government and corporates and gaps and opportunity related to access to capital.
  • Prominent participants included Gareth Wynn Owen, British Deputy High Commissioner to Hyderabad, and other ecosystem stakeholders from across India.

HYDERABAD, India, Oct. 24, 2024 -- IIITH's Social Incubator, AIC-IIITH, held a roundtable discussion on 'Financial and Non-Financial Support for Startup Innovation in Climate Action' at IIITH campus, Hyderabad. This collaborative event brought together key stakeholders to discuss challenges and solutions for supporting climate-tech startups through financial mechanisms, policy enhancements, and ecosystem collaboration.

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Participants in the Roundtable included Gareth Wynn Owen, British Deputy High Commissioner to Hyderabad, and representatives from Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad (RICH) and IIITH. The event also included participants from EPAM Systems, State Street, Caspian, Climake, IEEMA, AIC-Synapses, Climate Collective, Sus Mafia, and notable climate-tech startups like Banyan Nation among others. Overall the roundtable featured 25 participants from a diverse mix of startups, investors, corporates, and policy stakeholders, all focused on advancing climate action through innovative solutions.

The roundtable discussions focused on key areas such as:

  • Access to Capital: Addressing the financial challenges faced by startups, with insights into venture capital, CSR funding, green bonds, and impact investing.
  • Policy Support: Participants emphasized the need for streamlined policies that provide incentives and clarity to climate-tech entrepreneurs.
  • Ecosystem Building: Collaboration between incubators, corporates, and startups was highlighted as crucial for fostering innovation in climate action.

Highlighting one of core issues of mismatch in the sector, Ms. Simmi Sareen of Climake (a Climate Finance Platform) pointed out that while startups find it difficult to access capital, investors too cannot find good climate startups to deploy their capital. She also suggested the young founders of climate startups need to articulate their stories very clearly in terms of how they plan to grow their business; what their comparative advantages are and what gaps in problems are they solving.

Ravi Sarkunan, CEO of AIC-IIITH, remarked, "Climate action is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, and startups play a critical role in offering innovative solutions. This roundtable brings together diverse stakeholders who can collectively enable these startups to overcome hurdles and make a meaningful impact."

AIC-IIITH will soon publish the summary of the round table as white paper for the benefit of the wider ecosystem and hopes to build momentum around climate action efforts going forward.

About AIC-IIITH:

AIC-IIITH is an Atal Incubation Center at IIIT Hyderabad, focused on incubating and supporting technology-based social enterprises. AIC-IIITH's mission is to leverage entrepreneurial energy and technological innovation to address critical societal challenges, including climate change, and to help India meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The incubator offers startups access to resources, mentorship, and financial support, creating a robust environment for innovation. More info at  https://aic.iiit.ac.in/

About IIIT-Hyderabad: The International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIITH) is an autonomous research university founded in 1998 that focuses on the core areas of Information Technology, such as Computer Science, Electronics and Communications, and their applications in other domains through interdisciplinary research that has a greater social impact. Some of its research domains include Visual Information Technologies, Human Language Technologies, Data Engineering, VLSI and Embedded Systems, Computer Architecture, Wireless Communications, Algorithms and Information Security, Robotics, Building Science, Earthquake Engineering, Computational Natural Sciences and Bioinformatics, Education Technologies, Power Systems, IT in Agriculture and e-Governance.

Website: www.iiit.ac.in

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