Arthayan and MeitY Startup Hub’s Bharat CSR Summit

At the Bharat CSR Summit, held in Mumbai, CSR executives, incubators, entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate heads gathered to discuss how entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility might be combined to form a vibrant and coherent startup ecosystem. The summit, which was organized by Arthayan in partnership with the MeitY Startup Hub of the Indian government, spurred significant discussions about promoting innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Summit was opened by Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the government of Maharashtra’s minister of tourism, skill development & entrepreneurship, and women & child development. He stated, “On behalf of the Maharashtra Government, I want to congratulate Arthayan and I request you all to help this young entrepreneur in this great endeavour. I want to emphasise the significance of innovation and skills development. We appreciate your attendance and participation. […] I value Arthayan’s efforts very much.

Malhar Potnis, co-founder of Arthayan, gave the opening keynote talk at the Bharat CSR Summit. Malhar discussed Arthayan’s goal to democratise the fundraising landscape in India by making it simple for inventive and tenacious startups to acquire funds from international investors. By partnering with a network of 130+ investors, 80+ partner incubators, and 60+ corporates, the company’s tech-enabled platform “Funding Quest” connects startups with institutional investors based on their investment thesis and has supported more than 2,000 businesses. Arthayan has started more than a thousand talks with investors and companies so far while operating under a 0% success fee model. The organisation has also collaborated on capacity-building projects and acceleration programmes with over 15 incubators.

Jitendra Vijayvargiya, CEO of MeitY Startup Hub, a national platform devoted to supporting technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and the creation of intellectual rights, delivered the plenary address after the keynote presentation. Jitendra emphasised how the government cooperates with major businesses like Meta, Jio, and Google to encourage the expansion of startups in India. Jitendra made a point of highlighting the crucial part businesses can play in all of this by deploying their CSR expenditures more effectively and efficiently to make a difference.

Bharat CSR Summit

The CEO and co-founder of Grok Learning, Nitin S. Komawar, spoke with Malhar Potnis during the following session on “Innovation in Incubation.” Nitin discussed the key differences between the US and India in terms of innovation, the startup ecosystem in India and the room for improvement, such as R&D, the significance of a multidisciplinary approach to innovation, the role of academia in entrepreneurship, the talent and skill gap issue and the best course of action for resolving this challenge in India and empowering the youth to “solve real world problems.”

In the first panel discussion, titled “Co-Investing Strategies for Incubator,” panellists discussed deal structuring, the factors that give startups an edge when applying for funding, and other topics related to co-investment as a strategy for risk reduction and portfolio diversification. Aman Bhaiya, AVP & Program Head, SBI Foundation; Sushanto Mitra, Founder and CEO, Lead Angels; Anthony Anish, Chief Delivery Officer, T-HUB, Kargil Veteran, retd Wing Commander, IAF; and Sajid Sundrani, Head of Investments, GetVantage were among the professionals who participated in the panel. Sushanto discussed the necessity of collaboration between incubators and angel networks and how to make it happen. Aman discussed the SBI Foundation’s collaboration with incubators, its revolving fund strategy, how companies may capitalise on their assets, and other topics.

Following these sessions, Amit Kothawade, speaking on behalf of the Maharashtra State Innovation Society (MSInS), gave a brief speech outlining the organization’s ongoing efforts to support startups, including some of their well-known flagship initiatives like the Maharashtra Startup Week, where the top 24 winners receive work orders worth up to Rs 15 lakh.

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