15 startups to be shotlisted for Clean Edge Accelerator programme in India

India today faces major challenges in area of Environmental Sustainability, Waste Management & Renewables. In the last few years there have been a number of initiatives and programs launched by Government of India to tackle these issues so that they do not take up alarming proportions. At the micro level, efforts by individuals, organizations, young businesses, startups have been making continuous efforts to find a resolve.

This would help early-stage innovators which would further lead to new materials, low wastage manufacturing, better product designs and end-of-life innovations. One of the major gaps in this effort is pre-dominance of sub-scale Organizations, which do not have access to the right technology and investors. To bridge the above gap, Polyplex and Shriram Institute have joined hands to run an Accelerator Program - 'CleanEdge' for Environmental Sustainability, Waste Management & Renewables. This is a four month program and will run from February 2019 till May 2019.

CleanEdge Accelerator program has started accepting applications. With rigorous evaluation 15 startups will be shortlisted to participate in this program. Key offerings under this program are 1) High-quality intensive mentorship by Startup Experts, Functional Strategy Experts, domain related technical & sector specific experts. 2) Access to State-of-the-Art pilot lab facility at SRI-TBI in Delhi & Co-working facility at Aspirelabs. 3) Access to 'Appropriate' Technology, Opportunity to raise Seed-Capital upto 25 lakhs. 4) Access to Impact investors and Potential Customers. 5) Post-acceleration support. With Polyplex and Shriram Institute - Technology Business Incubator as anchors, this program is also being significantly supported by Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India under its umbrella of National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) scheme.

Polyplex Corporation Limited is among the world's largest manufacturers of packaging film with manufacturing facilities in five countries and employs over 2000 people globally. Apart from Infrastructural support, Polyplex through its network brings a high-quality business mentor pool, global linkages and market access for young startups. Shriram Institute for Industrial Research is an organization providing research and testing services in the field of plastics, rubbers, specialty chemicals and waste management. It also helps startups grow through nurturing innovative ideas into technologies and incubating entrepreneurs through its Technology Business Incubator.

This program would be executed by Aspirelabs Accelerator - founded by Ranjit Singh - Director at Polyplex Corporation Limited and an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and BITS Pilani. Applications for CleanEdge Accelerator are now open. Program details are accessible at https://aspirelabs.com/clean-tech. Also anyone can share this article with budding entrepreneurs working in clean-tech areas in their network to help drive innovation, growth and collaboration in a socially impactful field.

About Aspirelabs Accelerator:

Aspirelabs is a starup accelerator centrally located in Delhi-NCR with ten thousand square feet of premium office space and having access to high quality business and startup mentors. It is designed to foster entrepreneurship and innovation, and has a range of customized programs to enable young businesses and startups scale up to large profitable businesses. Aspirelabs is closely associated with Startup Oasis - a Jaipur based incubation centre of Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) which is India's leading incubator operating under the aegis of IIM Ahmedabad.

(With inputs from agencies.)