HDFC Bank, Atal Innovation Mission empower social sector startups with Rs 19.6 cr grants

Mumbai: HDFC Bank on Wednesday said it supported social sector startups in India with grants worth Rs 19.6 crore in FY24, in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission (under NITI Aayog).

In FY 2023-24, 170 social start-ups received funding via 41 incubators, with a total of Rs 19.6 crore in the ‘Parivartan Start-up Grants programme.’

The focus areas for the 2024 grants included climate innovation, financial inclusion, agriculture and sustainable rural economy, accessible and affordable healthcare, education and livelihood enhancement, gender diversity and inclusion.

“Through strategic collaborations and targeted investments, we aim to nurture and amplify the impact of innovative social start-ups across key sectors, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable and inclusive future for all,” said Nusrat Pathan, Head CSR, HDFC Bank.

Over a half of the 170 startups hail from over 60 tier 2 and 3 cities.

The grants were awarded to incubators such as HTIC at IIT Madras, Awadh at IIT Ropar, T-Hub (Hyderabad), FITT-IIT Delhi, RISE Foundation at IISER (Kolkata), VJTI (Mumbai), Forge Forward (Coimbatore), NTIBIF at NIFTEM (Kundli).

Since its inception in 2017, the initiative has supported over 400 startups, picked from more than 120 incubators nationwide, said the HDFC Bank.