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American lender Citi has said it will be giving a grant to Indian startups for scaling up activities having a positive societal impact in the agriculture, healthcare and financial technologies space.

The lender has tied up with IIT-Kanpur and technology incubator T-Hub to launch a ‘social innovation lab’ which will carry the initiative ahead, as per an official statement.

The lab has invited applications from early and growth-stage startups across the country to share their proposals in December 2021 to get support including mentoring, business model development, go-to market startegy, funding and scaling opportunities, it said.

“Approximately 25 early-stage startups will be provided a grant for incubation and five growth-stage startups will be provided a grant for scaling their business further,” the statement said, without specifying an amount which will flow as grants to the companies.

Citi South Asia’s head of treasury and trade solutions Mridula Iyer said the lender turns 120 years old in India and continues to invest in business growth of institutions, corporates and startup ecosystem.

“This collaboration with IIT-Kanpur and T-Hub reaffirms our commitment to economic growth and enabling progress across communities in India by supporting grants towards the incubation and acceleration of innovative startups in key areas,” Iyer said.

The grant will be primarily given to companies that have demonstrated proof of concept, built an existing customer base, and exhibited the potential for scale across the country, the statement said.