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India is the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world today, and if the number of unicorns is any indicator of success, the country is home to 100 of them and growing. And while the ecosystem is thriving, new players often find it difficult to access the right channels due to a gap in the opportunities to network, receive mentorship, and the right platforms to pilot their innovations. To help innovators get access to all this and more, the Maharashtra State Innovation Society has been hosting the Maharashtra Startup Week since 2018.

Now in its fifth edition, the initiative is an effort to provide a platform to the vast entrepreneurial talent in the state and across the country, support the best ideas and innovations with work orders to pilot their solutions, and provide an opportunity for various stakeholders of the startup ecosystem to connect and network with each other.

The Maharashtra Startup Week 2022 is offering a unique opportunity for early-stage startups working in sectors across education and skilling, agriculture, healthcare, sustainability, smart infrastructure and mobility, governance and miscellaneous. Apply now, registrations close May 30.

Plethora of opportunities

With the help of multiple ecosystem partners, the top 100 startups participating in the Maharashtra Startup Week 2022 will be shortlisted to showcase their solutions to a panel of judges comprising representatives from the government, industry, academia, and investors. The top 100 startups will be invited to Mumbai to pitch their solutions.

Out of the top 100, 24 of the best startups will be chosen as winners across multiple sectors and will receive work orders of up to Rs 15 lakh from the Maharashtra State Innovation Society to pilot their solutions within different state departments. Moreover, the startups will also receive support in terms of access to government machinery and mentoring from its institutional partners for a period of up to 12 months to deploy their solutions on the ground. The participating startups also get access to multiple other benefits such as cloud credits, access to multiple events, connect with ecosystem players such as mentors, investors, etc.

With the Maharashtra Startup Week, the aim is to establish “Government as a Platform” to achieve the dual objective of not only improving citizen services but also leverage and nurture a thriving startup ecosystem with opportunities for growth and collaboration.

Last year, over 1,800 startups applied for an opportunity to win prestigious work contracts from the government across sectors such as agriculture, cleantech, education and skilling, governance, healthcare, miscellaneous, etc. This year, the focus is on startup solutions that can create social impact, offer solutions to solve public challenges, and help bring innovation in governance.

Creating an impact

Winning startups from the last four editions of the Maharashtra Startup Week have piloted successful projects with the government to help mitigate social challenges. Startup Week winners Print2B Tech and CrossForge Solutions have deployed blockchain platforms to issue and verify important documents to counter the issue of forgery. Documents like COVID test reports issued by testing labs, lift licences issued by the Chief Electrical Inspector – Industries and diploma certificates issued by the Maharashtra State Board of Skill Development are now being issued on blockchain. With this, Maharashtra has implemented one of the largest blockchain pilots globally.

Offee, another Startup Week Winner, worked with the State CET Cell to help students from low and no connectivity areas who wanted to appear for MH-CET exams with the help of their software that requires no internet connection. “Offee approached us and made a presentation to our team. Our team found their product very useful. Their solution was exactly what we needed,” said Anand Rayate, ex-Commissioner, State CET Cell.

Similarly, another startup, Giftolexia Solutions has worked to screen over 2,200 students and provided individual risk reports and a class level fluency report. They also trained teachers from close to 100 schools on inclusive classroom strategies.

Few promising startups have been given additional work orders by the beneficiary departments, beyond their Startup Week work orders.

Since its launch, the event has seen participation from budding entrepreneurs, VCs, angel investors, senior government officials, academicians etc. Apart from pitching sessions of the startups, the week-long program also hosts insightful panel discussions, workshops, and keynote speeches.

So, don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to meet experts, interact with industry peers, explore new startup ideas, and discover new partnership opportunities.

Registration closes on May 30, 2022.