New Delhi, May 18, 2021: Leading speed scaling venture capital firm Anthill Ventures announces Indus X, India’s first UrbanTech Scaling Program that seeks to invest in and scale the next generation of startups focused on solving challenges faced by citizens, corporates, and governments in our urban centers, through the use of cutting-edge technology. Indus X will also serve as a platform to convene government, startups, corporate, and academia, to create an ecosystem of players working within urban technology.
The name Indus X is a homage to the Indus Valley Civilization, which pioneered innovation and technology usage in urban centers. Drawing a parallel, the selected startups will be mentored to scale their products and in doing so, transform Indian cities to become smarter, more sustainable, and more responsive to citizen needs.
Indus X will be a 6 month-long program where 8-10 pre-series A and Series A startups will be mentored to scale with speed. The startups which reach their milestones and achieve scale will receive an investment from Anthill and other co-investors to the tune of $1-3M.
The primary domains of focus for Indus X include:
- Smart & Clean Mobility: Focused on smart and clean transportation of goods, services, and people, to turn every city into a smart city.
- Waste & Water Technology: Focused on technologies that can continuously monitor, diagnose, and solve for problems in the urban waste and water management sector.
- Energy & Grid: Focused on technology for systems and analytical tools to predict demand, usage pattern maintenance, and other incidents to enable a reliable and sustainable power system.
- Smart Security: Focused on technologies that address vulnerabilities in the physical and virtual world to mitigate all risk factors in urban living.
- Smart Infrastructure & Built Environment: Focused on specialty materials and landscape analytics that can enable smarter and more sustainable living.
- Smart Governance: Focused on smart city applications that enable better communication and collaboration between citizens and local governments.
According to Sailesh Sigatapu, Partner at Anthill Ventures, “In light of the COVID-19 pandemic which has transformed the way we live and interact within our cities, Anthill is excited to launch the Indus X program and scale truly path-breaking technologies that have the potential to bring Indian cities back to the forefront of smart, responsive and sustainable living. We call upon all courageous founders working to solve challenges faced by Urban India to apply.”
Benefits that the startups will receive from the program
- Upfront Execution Capital: Upfront investment to deliver on POCs and contracts, solely brought in by the program.
- Kick-off and Bootcamp: Two-week-long Bootcamp with a week of knowledge sessions from industry leaders and policymakers followed by a week of one-on-one mentor sessions to find the right startup-mentor fit.
- Dedicated Speed Scaler: Dedicated mentor throughout the program.
- Interventions to Scale Journey: Business model refinement and go-to-market strategy.
- Market Access: Access to target corporations and government bodies, and new market entry support.
- Second Round of Investment: Second investment in a Series A round in selected, top-performing companies which reach milestones and achieve scale.
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