Amrita tech business incubator to invest $120,000 in four startups

To invest money in four startups shortlisted from 702 startups across the country at its PitchFest

Amrita Technology Business Incubator (TBI) announced that it has committed a total of $120,000 in seed funding for four start-ups it shortlisted out of 702 startups from all over India.

The winning startups are Preksh Innovations and B2BSphere, which are into e-commerce, MaaxMarket, which is into social media marketing and Meladath Auto Components.

Initially, Amrita TBI had planned for a total seed investment outlay of $100,000 for the top three startups at the PitchFest. During the final review, however, the quality of the top startups was found to be exceptional and the review board decided to increase the outlay to $120,000 and provide funding to top four startups instead of three, it said.

“As PM Modi prepares to unveil his ambitious ‘Startup India Standup India’ action plan, Amrita TBI, an incubator supported by the Government of India and Amrita University, is doing its part by organising this PitchFest every year,” said Krishnashree Achuthan, CEO of Amrita TBI.

She claimed that the TBI is amongst the top-five most prolific start-up incubators with 29 incubated startups and 0% loss in investments.

The Amrita TBI PitchFest, which is being held since 2012, was organised in partnership with the Government of India, NASSCOM 10K, Indian Angel Network and FreshersWorld. It attracted a total of 702 startup applications from all over India, with product/service offerings spanning more than 25 areas, including IT, IT services, mobile apps, advertising/media, agriculture, financial services, and social media. Amrita TBI also received 80 applications for co-working space at its startup facilities in Bengaluru and Kollam, it added.

Till now, Amrita TBI has mentored 181 startup ideas, built 31 products, filed for five patents and trained 6,700 students.