HDFC Bank Parivartan grants Rs 19.6 crore to social sector startups

HDFC Bank, India's leading private sector bank, today announced the winners of its Parivartan Startup Grants programme for FY2024. This year, 41 incubators and accelerators in the field of social impact entrepreneurship will receive grants totalling Rs 19.6 crore to support 170 startups working across specific focus areas, the company said in a statement today, May 8.

The majority of the start-ups that have been awarded funds are from Maharashtra, but they have also come from other states like Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Haryana. More than 60 tier II/III cities are home to more than half of the 170 start-ups.

“Our Parivartan Start-up Grants programme reaffirms our steadfast commitment to fostering social innovation and driving positive change in our communities. Innovation is the key to addressing the development needs of society. Through strategic collaborations and targeted investments, we aim to nurture and amplify the impact of innovative social startups across key sectors, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable and inclusive future for all." said Nusrat Pathan, head of CSR, HDFC Bank.

The focus areas for the 2024 grants are climate innovation, financial inclusion, agriculture, and sustainable rural economy, accessible and affordable healthcare, education and livelihood enhancement, and gender diversity and inclusion.

Who received money leading and up-and-coming incubators like HTIC at IIT Madras, Awadh at IIT Ropar, T-Hub (Hyderabad), FITT - IIT Delhi, RISE Foundation at IISER (Kolkata), VJTI (Mumbai), Forge Forward (Coimbatore), and NTIBIF at NIFTEM (Kindli) were among those that received the money. This year's high-impact tracks included some that were created in collaboration with the Goa Startup Mission, MoFPI, NSDC, RBI-H, and other nodal organisations.

"We are happy to help social startups that are bringing about positive change in our communities. We pledge to grow and fortify India's whole startup ecosystem by including sponsoring incubators and accelerators. Our goal with the HDFC Bank Parivartan Startup Grants is to enable these forward-thinking projects to have a significant influence and build a brighter future for everybody." said group head of treasury at HDFC Bank, Arup Rakshit.