Nasscom to mentor, fund 17 new deep-tech startups

New Delhi: Nasscom on Friday unveiled the fourth batch of its DeepTech Club that would nurture, mentor and fund 17 startups working in the field of new-age technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Machine Learning (ML) and virtual reality (VR).

The start-ups have been selected for a four-month programme that would involve guidance, enterprise connect sessions and exposure to investors and the global start-up ecosystem, the IT industry's apex body said in a statement.

"It is heartening to see Indian start-ups continued to prove their resilience by developing innovative solutions that would help society cope with the pandemic on a daily basis. We must ensure the growth trajectory of the start-up ecosystem is not derailed by providing them with coordinated support from all stakeholders," said Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom.

With over 1,600 DeepTech companies in India in 2019, there has been a spurt in funding of deep-tech startups as investor interest in niche products and platforms has increased significantly.

"We have mentored 78 product companies so far and are very happy about the small part we are playing in nurturing the growing DeepTech ecosystem in India," said Milind Hanchinmani, Co-lead, DeepTech Club and Director at Intel.

The fourth batch includes a diverse set of companies that have built phenomenal use cases for several verticals including healthcare, manufacturing, marketing and customer experiences, cyber security, public safety, transport infrastructure and e-governance, etc.

"I am looking forward to learning from the best mentors in the industry and grow Devnagri exponentially," said Himanshu Sharma, Founder & CEO, Devnagri which is one of the selected 17 startups.

Praveen Bhaniramka, CEO of 3D meeting and collaboration platform Exxar said they are excited about working closely with the Nasscom mentors to create growth opportunities and "help the industry with COVID-19 related business continuity and inefficiency challenges".

"Within a few weeks of joining, we are already seeing value through collaboration with other start-ups, guidance from committed mentors, ecosystem and go-to-market connects," added Ganesh Subramanian, Founder & CEO, Stylumia Intelligence Technology.