HDFC Bank has announced its fifth edition of SmartUp grants. SmartUp grant is the annual programme of the bank to award funds to social start-ups and incubators under #Parivartan.
HDFC Bank’s initiative #Parivartan is an umbrella for its corporate social responsibility. This year the bank has allocated up to Rs 15 crore for SmartUp grants.
Through the SmartUp grants, HDFC has disbursed twenty crores among twenty-two incubators for ninety start-ups. These funds were dedicated to sectors like ed-tech, waste management, agribusiness, healthcare, and skill development.
For the fifth edition of SmartUp grants, the bank will select twelve to fifteen incubators along with fifty start-ups working within the field of environment, healthcare, gender, and diversity.
Winners are going to be declared in February 2022 and also the deadline to submit applications is that the third week of November 2021.
SmartUp grants are facilitated to support and nurture social entrepreneurs. India needs innovation and smart businesses to handle needs of the society and to be future-ready.
HDFC aims to find and nurture both start-ups and incubators. HDFC, for now, has focused on sensitive areas like Conservation of the natural world, Improving gender equality , and Improving Healthcare.
#Parivartan is a component of a bigger effort by HDFC Bank to make an ecosystem to nurture the spirit of innovation and enterprise within the start-up space.
HDFC’s SmartUp Solution is the platform through which the bank offers banking and advisory solutions to entrepreneurs for start-ups.
#Parivartan began after the launch of the SmartUp solutions. It’s an industry-first banking solution for start-ups.
SmartUp solution is crafted to provide all the essentials for a start-up. It offers banking and payment solutions together with advisory and forex services.
SmartUp solution gives access to the bank’s SmartUp portal. Here start-ups are enabled to explore the knowledge and experience of the whole network of start-ups while simultaneously offering their services.
HDFC has dedicated SmartUp zones in over 67 branches in 30 cities across India, including tier-II and III cities that are emerging as start-up hubs.
For the fifth edition, the bank is pursuing different approaches to disburse up to Rs 15 crore.
- The eligible incubators as per Schedule VII of The Companies Act, 2013 and also the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy ) Rules 2014 will pitch their capabilities to execute the grant process placed on the CSR program requirements.
- In the application, the incubators will also provide a protracted list of startups that align with program focus areas.
- Startups are eligible under the Corporate Social Responsibility Rules 2014 and also the Schedule VII of The Companies Act.
- Those working towards innovation, development or improvement of products or processes or services, or if it’s a scalable business model with a high potential of employment generation or wealth creation can apply.
Follow and connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter
