Connect Startup Dots hosted a two-day event in Ahmedabad with the participation of 25 small start-ups from various sectors ‘making a social impact with technology.’
During the pandemic period, many vendors lost their companies and were struggling to stay afloat, which inspired the idea for the festival. People with remarkable skills have turned to start-ups in these conditions. We sought to connect start-ups with vendors or buyers in MSME sector and help both of them, according to Jayendra Tanna President, Ahmedabad Chamber of Commerce Welfare Foundation.
The unique aspect of this event is that the merchants have also offered such start-ups space in their store or showroom. Tanna added, in order for them to be able to market their product we will provide one year of mentorship to such start-ups and are also working on a reverse model, where start-ups can offer items to vendors for a year and it acts as a win-win relationship to both, added Tanna.
Tanna went on to say that, according to a survey, roughly 40-45 percent of MSME vendors have been compelled to alter course and profile, with majority of them forced to changing their procedure, policy, or location. Such issues prompted us to consider whether we could marry both start-ups and established MSME vendors. This was also significant because investors generally prefer bigger start-ups and don’t want to look at smaller ventures, but we thought of marrying MSME and Start-ups to support both of them in a smaller method where the investment for either of the parties will be less than 2-5 lakhs.
Using the example of a fire extinguisher with an IOT capability that will be activated using a SIM card as an example of a marriage of concepts Tanna also added because of the event’s inaugural success, we plan to do such event every two months in the future, with the next event concentrating on Agri business as they have already identified two banks and four universities in Gujarat.
Tanna noted that seven of the total start-ups were devoted to the environment, three to automobiles, about seven to healthcare, and a couple to handicrafts, all of which were based in Gujarat. Around 14 enterprises were almost guaranteed sponsorship by Investors or lenders. The majority of investors have made the healthcare sector their top priority.
The event, was organised by the Ahmedabad Chamber of Commerce Welfare Foundation, the Ahmedabad Chapter of the Computer Society of India, the Gujarat Traders Federation, and the Engineers Institute of India and the event’s co-organizers included Gujarat Technological University in coordination of Government of Gujarat, LD Engineering, and the Welspun Group. Yes Bank and Kalupur Bank were the bankers who participated in the event.
Finally, when asked about the National Trade Policy’s implementation, Tanna who is also the President of the All India Vyapar Mandal in New Delhi, said that it is still a long way to go because the government has yet to invite them to a meeting.
