Hyderabad: The 2nd Edition of Rural Innovators Start-up Conclave (RISC), being organized by National Institute for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has attracted over around 300 participants from 23 states. This unique two-day conclave (30th& 31stAugust 2018) aims to identify Rural Innovations and Startups and create a platform to provide exposure, education and capacity building besides mentoring and incubation for Rural Startups and hand hold numerous innovations for transforming rural India.
The Hon’ble Vice President of India M. Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate the Rural Innovators Startup Conclave 2018 on 30th August 2018 in the presence of Hon`ble Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana E.S.L.Narasimhan, Hon`ble Union Minister for Rural Development Narendra Singh Tomar, Hon`ble Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana Mohd. Mahmood Ali, Rural Development Secretary Amarjeet Sinha, IAS and Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy.
The Start-up Conclave for Rural Innovations is the first-of-its-kind event to nurture proven rural innovations and budding startups. The event will recognize the best design Idea / solution with Prototype or poster, Innovators and Start-ups for Acceleration.
Addressing a Press Conference today (27th August 2018), Dr. W. R. Reddy, Director General, NIRDPR, said, “We have created a platform – ‘RISC’ that brings together Rural Innovators, startups, investors and mentors under one roof. This Conclave is very unique in that it is focused exclusively on Rural Startups and is a great opportunity for rural startups to scale up their ideas and products/technology and take it to the mass market with a focus on addressing the Rural Issues.”
The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi’s Flagship Campaign of ‘Startup India’ that seeks to encourage young entrepreneurs, particularly in Tier II and Tier III cities, is a guiding light creating ripples across the industry to come up with initiatives seeking to strengthen the startup culture.
The RISC will provide a launch field platform to a wide array of budding Ideas, rural innovators and aspirant startups to showcase their design idea/ innovations /technology/ pitch and talk about their innovation and get an opportunity for learning and mentoring support.
At RISC this year, a new platform called ‘Rural Innovation and Design (RIDe)’ Challenge will be organized for school children, college students and the general public, with the aim of finding potential solutions to critical everyday rural problems. These solutions will be represented through poster displays at the conclave.
The Highlights of RISC 2018 includes:
Display and demonstration of innovations, technologies, products and posters by the innovators, startups and RIDe participants;
Panel discussions on Tool Design, Innovative Packaging, marketing and Funding guidance;
Experience sharing by RISC-2017 awardees;
Platform for Display, Demonstration and Recognition, ;
Pitching by innovators, startups, RIDe participants selected by Jury;
Network with Incubators, business support agencies and financial institutions
Select participants will be provided with Fellowships for the first time to give them an impetus to go into rural communities, identify problems and come up with ideas anchored in innovative and pioneering technologies. The NIRDPR will play a key role here, by connecting these innovators with appropriate institutions and investors having the technological/financial means to cater to the entrepreneurial aspirations of youth.
In the event, Hon’ble Vice President of India will launch the ‘Improved Hydraulic compressed Mud Block Making Machine’ which is designed and developed by NIRDPR in collaboration with Annapurna Cottage Industries. The productivity of mud block making can be increased by 4-5 times using this newly developed machine compared to the manually operated machine and it can help in production of these eco-friendly bricks right at the building construction sites. As the cost of the machine is comparable to the manually operated machines available in the market, it can give a fillip to the production of these bricks by local entrepreneurs especially the women self-help groups for promoting sustainable housing initiatives.
In addition, a compendium on ‘Gram Panchayat and Anganwadi Building Designs’ developed by NIRDPR will be released in the event. The compendium containing various model building designs which incorporate sustainable construction technologies such as use of mud blocks, filler slabs, rat trap bond walls, bamboo panels and roof, IPS flooring, etc., has been developed in consultation with engineers of various states. Using these model designs, the Government and Panchayat functionaries across India can reduce the cost of construction and provide better living environment to children and visitors to these centres.
The event will be attended by representatives from Technical institutions, Government departments supporting incubation, Non-Government agencies and most importantly by the Business Developers, Venture Capitalists, Angel Investors and other players from entrepreneurial ecosystem.
RISC – 2018 is proposed to be organized in partnership with several prominent institutions from the fields of innovation, design and entrepreneurship including inter alia the Department of Science & Technology, State Councils of Science & Technology and Environment, State Rural Livelihood Missions (SRLMs) and Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
The themes of the conclave are Agriculture and Allied Activities, Green Energy, Waste to Wealth, Sustainable Housing, Health and Elderly Care, Drinking Water and Sanitation, and Sustainable Livelihood. NIRDPR will award a ‘Best Innovator’ award and a ‘Best Startup’ award under each of these categories, and invites applications from Indian and international residents, and from startups no older than five years with an annual turnover not exceeding Rs. 50 lakh.
The RISC event which was launched since last year has shaped into a valuable platform for innovators and startups to pitch and directly come in contact with a range of institutions that support startups with alchemical powers – ranging from funds, to technologies, to incubation etc.
NIRDPR is confident that the RISC will bring about number of ideas and technologies that can solve rural problems and enable accelerated rural transformation.
