January 14, saw the launch of The Step Up Venture’s second cohort. Established in 2020, with the mission of serving the underserved in society, TSUV is on a mission to discover raw jewels from the real Bharat.
The current cohort saw more than 450 interests received from around India. After a rigorous and exhaustive assessment by the team, 10 startups were finalized for the second cohort beginning in January 2023.
Under the able leadership of Mr. Raja Singh Bhurji, CEO of TSUV and guidance of Dr. Ebaad Momin, Chairman of TSUV the cohort 2.0 was launched on 14th January.
The occasion was graced by industry luminaries from around the world who not only appreciated the torch bearing initiatives of TSUV but also commended the quality of cohort. They not only offered a lot of inspiration and encouragement to the startups, but also support in terms of coaching and mentorship. The guests of honour included Mr. Kazi Arif Zaman (Partner, GestAlt Network; Ex Managing Director Everstone Capital), Mr. Arshad Sayyed (MD and CEO – VeArc Prive Equity Fund), Dr. Ash Pachauri (Founder, The Protect Our Planet Movement, Advisor to) and Mr. Shariff Kottapurath (Managing Partner, Mount Judi Ventures and Chairman, Rebar Finance. Ex – CTO Sun Microsystems).
The launch also saw presentations from two women led startups from their cohort 1, DoseTap and Newboo. These two startups were also successfully funded in the first cohort. They spoke extensively about the support and value add they received from TSUV as part of the incubation program.
Following is the list of startups incubated in Cohort 2.0, It boasts of 5 Women Co-founded Startups, 3 startups from Tier2/3 cities in Bharat while all 9 representing the Minority communities of the country.
- Befriends: an AI-backed emotional and mental health support platform founded by Hakimmudin Vohra. The platform aims to provide daily care for issues such as stress, mood swings, traumatic events, and family neglect. According to Vohra, Befriends promises to make users “feel heard, with sincerity and competence.”
- Food Fox: a food ordering platform with a B2B2C approach, founded and conceptualized in 2020 by Rohan Deshpande, Raymon Kaur, and Gurmeet Singh. The platform aims to digitalize cafeteria and modernize food experiences. Food Fox has also been awarded the APAC Insider Business Award for “Most Innovative Campus Food Ordering Platform.”
- Quest Technologies: an educational technology-based startup founded by Deep Singh and Himanshu Gautam. The platform aims to make education as interesting as games, with an involvement-based approach. Quest is focused on reducing the prevalence of tuitions, coaching, and apps.
- My Pahadi Dukan: a platform for Himalayan or hilly products, founded by Himanshu Dua. The startup aims to bring pure and authentic products directly from the mountains to customers in any region. They have a tech-enabled and cold temperature-maintained last-mile delivery system.
- ERIP: a full-stack platform for gadget and appliance after-sales services, founded by Arbaz Husain and Anees Pasha. ERIP provides solutions for customers’ broken devices in under 15 minutes and has served over 3000 customers.
- Carver Farms: an agri-tech startup that aims to help farmers use technology to easily access all the required agri-products without wasting time and money. Carver Farms aims to boost the roots of India, which is primarily an agro-based country.
- RapidEzy: an EdTech and SaaS startup founded by Sandip Labh that focuses on bridging the skill gap in Indian industries. RapidEzy is the first company in India to come up with such a concept.
- MedWorld: a digital healthcare startup founded by Vikram Churakar that aims to create a new digital healthcare system using technology and experts. MedWorld focuses on setting a standard of health in India and making its own place in the scattered healthcare industry.
- Urban Tajir: a startup that aims to meet the needs of sustainable development through environmental conscious packaging solutions. The company is disrupting the packing industry with custom solutions that are aesthetic in looks, purpose fit and sensitive to the community. These bags made of cotton and other fabrics are produced by women and lend a hand towards empowering them and making them financially independent.
In an age driven by growth of the Startup ecosystem, where in India there is 1 Incubator for every 150 Startups as per NASSCOM; The StepUp Ventures in the endeavour of contributing towards building of the $5 trillion economy identifying the gap in the ecosystem of support for the underserved communities. The StepUp ventures began with a vision to handhold entrepreneurs from the underrepresented communities to build the new age businesses through a Business Incubator with the aspiration of making the entrepreneurs from such communities Investor ready and scalable.
The StepUp Ventures is on a mission to Impact 50,000 Families by helping scale 350+ Startups over the next decade.