Brief introduction and objectives

The SWACH accelerator was conceived by the India Sanitation Coalition at FICCI along with its partners Innovation Mission Punjab and IIT Ropar. It proposes to establish a dedicated platform where private sector sponsors can engage and provide support to entrepreneurs/startups/businesses seeking to drive innovation within this sector. It seeks to ensure a consistent flow of diverse innovations, including technology and process-driven solutions, accessible to stakeholders across society. Entrepreneurs supporting the Swachh Bharat Mission will be encouraged to provide innovative solutions addressing challenges around Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) including solid and liquid waste management, water supply & conservation, and hygiene.

The accelerator will have 3 pillars that will work closely together. The first, IM Punjab, is an accelerator supporting early-stage startups (from prototype and beyond), offering mentoring and business support to prepare them for commercialization. The second pillar, IIT Ropar, offers technical assistance to aid startups in scaling their operations. The third pillar, ISC, acts as an enabler, recognizing and validating the efforts of startups and entrepreneurs in the WASH sector, providing them with essential impetus.

The objectives of this accelerator are: 

• To address the Water and Sanitation challenges facing the country, our goal is to establish a sustainable ecosystem. This can be achieved by leveraging appropriate technological innovations tailored to the Indian context, which can be efficiently managed and scaled by rural communities and urban civil societies alike.
• To increase private sector participation in the WASH sector by strengthening the public-private dialogue and encouraging innovators to experiment with innovations with unwavering government and private sector support.
• To focus on bringing technology innovations to the manual processes in the WASH sector, by creating an all-inclusive ecosystem across the value chain of waste processing and water management.
• Position the accelerator as the medium through which investors and corporates working in the WASH sector can engage with startups, and with research organizations.
• To work with various government organizations to implement solutions developed by startups and focusing on expediting the adoption.

Focus areas/Categories

The focus will be on including the overall value chain of WASH (including waste management) i.e., Build/Use/Maintain/Treat/Reuse to implement circularity across this sector. This accelerator will give preference to climate-resilient start-ups working in the WASH sector. The focus areas/categories of the accelerator are:

• Water Supply Management
• Sanitation Access
• Hygiene Enablement
• Waste Management

Eligibility Criteria for the Accelerator

The eligibility criteria proposed for this accelerator are:

1. Start-ups working in the Water and sanitation (WASH) sector including waste management sector that have a product/prototype ready to be taken to the market or need support in improving and scaling the product. 
2. Start-ups that have executed at least one commercial pilot.
3. Start-ups no more than 5 years old will be eligible for this program.
4. The entity should be registered in India. It must submit the Certificate of Incorporation issued by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs or Certificate of Registration from the Registrar of Firms of the respective state.
5. A business entity/startup that is registered as a Pvt. Ltd. or Limited Liability Partnership or Partnership would be considered and would be eligible to apply for this program.
6. Women founders are encouraged to apply for this program. 

Partners

1. India Sanitation Coalition at FICCI
2. Innovation Mission Punjab
3. IIT Ropar, TIF-AWaDH

Roles of stakeholder/partner

1. India Sanitation Coalition: As a champion of WASH, ISC will provide techno-managerial support to all the stakeholders, whenever required. It will serve as a vital connecting link between various stakeholders. Additionally, it will assist in corporate outreach, helping them invest in startups, oversee the entire process, and collaborate effectively with the Accelerator partner (Innovation Mission Punjab), the Government, and ULBs to achieve the collective goals.
2. Innovation Mission Punjab (IM Punjab): IM Punjab is the accelerator partner where they will support by scouting relevant start-ups, supporting in the jurying process to shortlist, and providing acceleration support to the cohort start-ups every year.

   They will test and scale tech-powered entrepreneurial initiatives that are addressing some of the biggest challenges in the chosen sub-sectors. With the aim to foster tech and process innovations, proposed engagement envisions to support ten innovations through a structured approach of:

   1. Focussed and streamlined: Process to scout, discover, and select cohort of most promising solutions / high-quality startups.
   2. Acceleration Support: It will power the cohort through: 
      1. Business clinics to mobilize collective knowledge and resources and generate network capital by initiating dialogue between cohort startups and industry and provide an opportunity for potential partnerships and
      2. Growth clinic to create a platform to facilitate a knowledge pathway for entrepreneurs and help these innovative startups grow by testing and learning to scale their ideas and approaches.
   3. Catalytic Support: Capital infusion at an early & high-risk stage (where capital is hard to get) will change the risk-return trajectory by validating the product or business model and by capacity elevation of the startup.

   Apart from this, IM Punjab will also provide tangible support in terms of:

   1. Dedicated program to build capacity of entrepreneurs.
   2. Mentoring across all stages; Mentor pool of 100+ mentors
   3. Strategic Interventions customized for startups to address operational challenges.
   4. Facetime with Investors, Corporates, Customers, and Government entities through Customer and Investor Demo Days
   5. Piloting Opportunities and Market Access
3. IIT Ropar, TIF-AWaDH: IIT Ropar is the technical partner that will offer technical assistance to aid startups in scaling their operations. Moreover, it will extend support to startups, innovators, and technology-based ventures by offering incubation and acceleration resources.