Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday handed over sanction orders for investments to the tune of ₹10.85 crore in eight-State based startups that are run by entrepreneurs from the SC/ST communities.
The startups are based out of Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Ramanathapuram districts. Two of these startups have women co-founders. The Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission (StartupTN) will provide mentorship and post-investment support for these firms.
Icam Technosys which is creating a Business-to-Business (B2B) e-commerce platform (Tribal Mart) for tribal-made products was given a funding of ₹50 lakh. This investment will help the company enhance the traceability of tribal work and leverage B2B channels to scale the volume of sales. Vervai Food Products received ₹25 lakh in funding. The firm is into up-cycling of second-grade and cosmetically-damaged vegetables into edible value-added products with an aim to improve farmers’ incomes, while retaining the nutritive value of the products. This investment will help them set up a processing unit to enable scaling their product range and to set up marketing channels to support sales.
Chennai-based 70 MM Digiverse, a media and entertainment firm received ₹1 crore in funding. They are a data asset management company for the entertainment industry, providing backup services at the production stage and archival services as well. Lemurian Ventures, which got ₹80 lakh, specialises in packaging and selling dry fish sourced out of Ramanathapuram. Their packaging solution has enabled them to sell dry fish in areas which have heavy footfalls such as railway stations. The fund will help the startup scale its operations and enhance its supply chain and sales capabilities.
Enthu Technologies a startup primarily into R&D, and the manufacture of IoT devices using the LORAWAN protocol, received ₹3.5 crore in funding. Auckam Technologies, which designs and manufactures electronic products like water flow meters, home automation devices, IoT-based devices and industrial automation solutions has got ₹2 crore in funding. The firm is looking to develop products for emerging drone tech; the investment will help them design and manufacture a line of critical drone components and accessories, such as electronic speed controllers, battery management systems and charging circuits.
KSU Harnexon an industrial wire harnessing company, primarily for the manufacturing and textile industries, received ₹1.2 crore. Vayuratha, a 3-D printed and assembled drone manufacturer with a focus on the agricultural sector, specifically manufacturing drones for small-scale farmers received ₹1.6 crore. The fund will help them obtain licences for specific types of drones, set up a Remote Pilot Training Organisation, assemble drones and set up a service and training team.
