National Bamboo Innovation Challenge 2022

National Bamboo Innovation Challenge 2022 is managed by Finovista on behalf of the Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC). The programme has been supported by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. The Challenge fund will lead to the identification of business opportunities in the Indian bamboo industry and start-ups and innovators who are keen to take it forward. This Challenge Fund is open for participants from all over India.

FMC has been implementing a project: “Promote Bamboo MSME Clusters for Sustainable Development” in 9 states (Viz: Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand & Madhya Pradesh) with the overall objective of promoting bamboo as a sustainable resource and generate green jobs.

Further, FMC in collaboration with Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, is currently implementing “Empower Start-ups and Micro Enterprises (MEs) to grow Business their 2022 Initiatives”. The overall objective of the program is to create a one stop knowledge repository for the startups by arranging Expert/Technical sessions and enabling a virtual platform i.e. https://vep.fmc.org.in/ through which Startups can pitch their ideas and can access potential investments from various investors.

To tap into the potential of Innovative Indian Bamboo startups, FMC, through Finovista has designed the “National Bamboo Innovation Challenge 2022”. The programme aims to identify and support Innovative innovators, startups and SME to develop and scaleup through the Innovation Challenge. Innovative startups and their ideas would be mapped. These startups and Innovators would be then supported under the three categories:

Idea Stage
Prototype Development and test marketing stage
Commercial Production Stage

Programme Opportunity & Benefits

The Programme offers a comprehensive set of opportunities and benefits to Startups/Innovators. The shortlisted top 15 companies/innovators would be provided with Business Support, 2 weeks of multidisciplinary Training & Mentoring support, Incubation support, Financial Support (Grant), Networking, Market Access(90 Days of Virtual listing and 2 days of Exhibition on (https://vep.fmc.org.in/) and International Linkages. Top 15 start-ups would be awarded a cash grant in the form of financial support respectively for three Stages, with a total of INR 7.25 Lakhs.

Eligibility

The Programme is designed for passionate, empathetic and motivated startups and innovator who are dedicated to creating impact and want to build an entrepreneur that will solve India’s Bamboo Industry’s Challenges and help scale it up.

The startup could be from any part of the value chain in the bamboo sector viz cultivation, processing, production, finishing, packaging, marketing, logistic support, tool/machinery development and Go-to-Market
The solution can be at any/or Stage i.e. Ideation, Piloting, Demonstration, Deployment, Commercialisation and Matured stage
You could be engaged in the business of Services, Manufacturing, Trading, Distribution, Advisory, Designing, Researching etc, related to Bamboo & allied products.
The entity could be an Indian Company/SME/Startup/Individual (Innovators & Researchers).