Dalmia Bharat announces smart city accelerator for startups

In a new announcement, Dalmia Bharat declared a 4-month accelerator designed to mentor and invest in promising startups which are focused on smart city ideas.

A joint initiative between DLabs at ISB and Centre for Entrepreneurship at Ashoka University, the Dalmia Bharat AIM Smart City Accelerator Program is supported by Microsoft India, with focus on four broad verticals: healthcare, education, transportation and infrastructure.

"India ranks third in the global startup ecosystem and through this program, we want to sensitize young entrepreneurs on how to best utilize this startup boom for smart city development," says BK Singh, Senior Executive Director at Dalmia Bharat Group.

ISB and Ashoka University will provide access to some of its finest academic and industry networks, which will provide mentorship to the startups. Holostik Group will also support the accelerator through its mentor network and access to funding.

Microsoft will support this through its BizSpark program and the recently announced special initiative for Indian technology startups for smart cities. "This program will help entrepreneurs leverage Microsoft technology to develop innovative solutions that can support cities to become smart, sustainable and future-ready," says Narendra Bhandari, General Manager - Developer Experience at Microsoft India.

Applications for this program will be shortlisted by mid-March on the basis of financial viability, technology feasibility, desirability to target audience, sustainability of the solution and track record of the team. An investment support of up to Rs 10 lakh will be provided to each team selected.

Dalmia Bharat Limited (DBL) has been a pioneer in cement manufacturing for over seven decades now. The Group's current capacity of 25 million tonnes is one of the largest in the Indian cement industry.

(Image credits: BCCL)