Pune start-ups showcase their expertise during second AGRI UDAAN 3.0 roadshow
Pune, September 13th 2019: a-IDEA & National Academy of Agricultural Research Management’s (NAARM) second roadshow of the 3rd edition of its food and agribusiness flagship accelerator program titled AGRI UDAAN® 3.0 got a very good response from the Agri & Food industry from Pune.
After the grand launch of Agri Udaan 3.0 in Hyderabad and after a very good first roadshow at Bangalore the second roadshow was held in Pune on September 13th. The event held at Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), Senapati Bapat road saw enthusiastic participation from young and emerging agriculture startup entrepreneurs. Eminent and leading names from the start-up ecosystem shared their insights and perspective on critical aspects with regards to agriculture start-ups.
The event was kicked off by Mr. Vijay Nadminti, Chief Operating Officer (COO), a-idea, who gave the welcome address and shared mission & vision of Agri Udaan 3.0 and shared details of the initiative. The keynote speakers for the event were Mr. Seshagiri Prasad, Strategic Consultant, BKSL & Dr. Bharat Char, Lead, Biotechnology, MAHYCO who guided the young and emerging entrepreneurs on Convergence of FPOs and Startups: importance and challenges and Industry perspective on startup innovations.
Also, on the occasion, U. D. Shrisalkar, CGM, NABARD, Mr. Emmanuel Murray, Senior Advisor, Caspian, Dr. Sudha Maysore, CEO, Agrinnovate, Mr. Dinesh Bhosale, GM, AB Vista South Asia, Mr. Babbar Singh, Co-Founder, Delmos, Mr. Mohit Soni, CM Fellow, Govt of Maharashtra, Mr. Shivam Choubey, Manager Investments, CIIE, IIM-A also graced the occasion. The experts from diverse domains shared their opinion on range of topics like technology commercialization, startups & investments and Role of various government bodies in promoting Agri entrepreneurship and start-ups. The vote of thanks was given by Mr. Shubham Kumar, a-IDEA NAARM.
In in his thanks giving speech, Mr. Shubham Kumar, a-IDEA NAARM, said, “We are very excited to launch AGRI UDAAN 3.0, as we see a lot of opportunity to make agribusiness a change maker for the benefits of all stakeholders especially the farmers.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vijay Nadminti, COO, a-idea said, “Food and Agritech startup ecosystem is witnessing an unprecedented move with a lot of startups trying to disrupt the challenges of the agri business sector. Many startups in this domain are scaling and hope Agri Udaan has been trying to scale up such agritech startups. Through Agri Udaan 3.0 we are hoping more startups are going to join this league.
AGRI UDAAN is a Food & Agribusiness Accelerator organized by a-IDEA, NAARM. The program focuses on catalyzing scale-up stage Food and Agribusiness startups through rigorous mentoring, industry networking and investor pitching. a-IDEA, NAARM had launched India’s 1st Food & Agribusiness Accelerator with CIIE, IIM-A in 2015, in which 192 startups applied, out of which, 20 startups were mentored and 8 startups were supported through capacity building. Out of these 8 startups, 3 startups got funding to the tune of INR 3 crore. Further in 2017, the 2nd edition of Food and Agribusiness Accelerator “Agri Udaan 2.0” was launched with the support of Department of Science and Technology (DST), GoI in association with Caspian Impact Investments, Yes Bank, Marico Innovation Foundation, NeML among other partners. 579 startups had applied, out of which 40 startups were mentored, 10 startups cohort was shortlisted and supported further, out of which 3 startups got funding to the tune of INR 6.25 Cr. AGRI UDAAN, Food 3.0 is being launched with the support of DST in association with NABARD, Caspian Impact Investments, AgrInnovate, Omnivore, and other prominent partners across the country.