NEW DELHI (India CSR): India is the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, with over 1,00,000 startups and 100 unicorns, and is expected to become the second-largest ecosystem in the world by 2030. The start-up ecosystem is a critical engine in India’s vision to emerge as the third-largest economy by 2027. The deep tech ecosystem has particularly garnered interest from investors, attracting investments worth $6.23 billion over the last decade. Another industry report indicates that in 2022, deep tech start-ups witnessed a striking rise in funding and raised up to $2.1 billion. Owing to this trend and the pivotal role deep science plays in finding actionable solutions to critical problems, it is expected that India will have 10,000 deep tech start-ups by 2030.
Aligned with this, Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation (HHSIF), the philanthropic arm of Honeywell India, is committed to fostering local innovation and empowering emerging businesses in the technology domain. The not-for-profit has partnered with the Foundation for Science Innovation and Development (FSID), the incubation arm of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and has extended research and financial support to 40+ Indian start-ups and 9 entrepreneurs-in-residence (EIR).
In FY 23-24 alone, HHSIF has supported a total of 13 innovations—8 startups and 5 EIR programs. With intensive focus on agri-tech, clean-tech, health-tech, and green-tech initiatives. Out of the ventures supported in this financial year, 50% were in the field of MedTech and 20% were in AgriTech. Additionally, three of the eight startups collaborated with were led by female founders, underlining and promoting inclusivity and diversity in the Indian start-up space. In FY24-25, HHSIF has committed support to 7 startups and 1 EIR in allied sectors.
In addition to financial assistance under its CSR initiatives, HHSIF has also extended research support, technology, human capital, and a global network of high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), angels, venture capitalists (VCs), and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to all its partner entities.
Details of some of the key startups supported:
Med-Tech:
Transled MedTech Pvt. Ltd.: Translead Medtech Private Limited is a start up aimed to address the issues faced by elderly people and it is a deep-tech spin-off from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. Stand at Ease, one of Translead’s product supported through this initiative, is a specially designed chair by Translead MedTech which assists elderly community members with critical joint problems to have a better stand to sit and sit to stand experience.
Founder: Manoj Kumar R
Open MedLabs: It develops affordable, reliable, and accessible medical devices for people living with chronic conditions like diabetes. Their goal is to equip 25% (~6.5 million) insulin dependent diabetics in LMICs of SE Asia with affordable and effective devices within the next decade. Aligned with the same they have developed a novel, affordable insulin pump for T1DM patients matching the specifications of a commercially available pump, while bringing down the cost significantly. The startup has completed prototype development and successful animal trials. We have also been granted multiple patents for our innovative insulin pump. OML is now beginning manufacturing, followed by human trials, which are expected to be completed by Q2 of 2025.
Founders: Neha Bhatia, Manish Arora, Deval Karia
Agri-Tech:
Green Collar AI: Green Collar Agritech Solutions delivers deep tech for agriculture and food processing, aiming to boost incomes across the value chain. Their first product, TARAM™—an instant quality assessment tool for turmeric—uses Near Infrared Spectroscopy and Machine Learning to enable objective price discovery, helping farmers earn more. The startup is currently focused on developing and marketing TARAM™ for chili quality assessment, focusing on ASTA color value, Scoville heat units, moisture, and non-volatile oil content. This particular innovation targets a community of over 3M chilly farmers and agricultural labourers. Machine learning models will be built to predict these parameters instantly. The roll out of the solution is planned by Jan 2025, prior to the chilli season in India. Green Collar AI has also developed similar solution for Turmeric and pepper, all of which will be in full production starting Jan 2025. In this first season, its expect to reach about 20,000 chilli farmers across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra
Founders: Padmini Sampath, Hema Annamalai, Sarangan Thirumavalavan
Rait Setu: It aims to empower small farmers as entrepreneurs through tech-enabled agriculture and sugarcane-to-jaggery processing. This boosts crop prices, increases farmer income, reduces carbon footprint, and creates higher-paying village jobs, minimizing urban migration. The startup is currently engaged in manufacturing of small-scale Sugarcane Harvester. Collecting more inputs from experts, farmers and Jaggery manufacturers; spent around 0.6 Lakhs; manufacturing of Prototype will begin in first week of May month.
Founders: Santosh Rayappa Kittur, Pooja Santosh Kittur, Roopa Suresh Kanapet
Environment:
NatureWrks: It is a deep tech startup in Bangalore, is led by three PhDs with expertise in materials, biomimetics, and engineering. Their mission is to reduce plastic packaging waste and combat environmental pollution. The startup aims to scale up by integrating industrial-grade equipment, automating production, and expanding R&D to develop shelf-life-enhancing coatings. Over the next 12 months, plans on hiring additional R&D and automation staff to meet customer demand efficiently.
Founders: Lakshminath Kundanati, Ankur Kulkarni, Somanna Kolimada
Openwater: Openwater.in is a spinoff from the Flexible Electronics Lab, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. It aims to make water treatment and wastewater management hassle-free. Their patented technology helps users achieve smart, reliable and sustainable water treatment by enabling individual users to treat water from any source with a hassle-free treatment unit. Design and Development of a 25klD system for Mavallipura, the opening of Mavallipura borewell, and the preparation of test site completed.
Founders: Sanjiv Sambandan & Prabha Nagarajan
