Goan Startup Among 7 Selected to Receive Funding From AIC-GIM

Goan Startup Among 7 Selected to Receive Funding From AIC-GIM

7 Startups to run the pilot phase of Single-Use Plastic Challenge introduced by Atal Incubation Centre of Goa Institute of Management.

Panaji, September 2022: Taking large strides towards minimizing the use of plastics in the Food and Beverage industry, 7 startups have been selected as a result of the Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Challenge organized by the Atal Incubation Center Foundation at Goa Institute of Management (AIC-GIM) in collaboration with Climate Collective Foundation and IHCL brand. Goan startup, Kasoi is one of those selected and shall be receiving funding and guidance from AIC-GIM throughout the pilot phase.

SUP Challenge – Goa is an international acceleration program to address the SUPs demand and waste in the F&B industry. The challenge aims to support innovators to build capacity and pilot their solution with F&B partners in Goa. The challenge assesses the volume of single-use plastics waste and finds ways to reduce its deposition in our environment.

78 applications were received from across the country out of which 17 innovative ideas were selected. After an evaluation process, 7 promising startup ideas have been selected to run pilot projects at the Taj Hotel and Convention Centre. Bare Necessities Zero Waste Solutions, Ibanss, BioReform, Ecopak, Kagzi Bottles, Kasoi India, and Srishti Lifescience have been shortlisted. Each startup has come up with unique, unprecedented ideas to contribute significantly to the ongoing effort towards excessive plastic deposition in the environment.

Goa-based startup, Kasoi India, creates alternatives to plastic out of using coconut waste sourced locally. The company strongly believes in healing the oceans and hence, the name ‘Kasoi’ – meaning turtle in the local language Konkani – and is inspired by Goa’s sea turtles, the Olive Ridleys.

Rajesh Joshi, CEO AIC-GIM, says, “The SUP Challenge is a challenge that is currently taking place all over the globe as people are slowly realizing the importance of avoiding this climate catastrophe. Making this project happen in Goa has put our state on the map when it comes to sustainability. AIC-GIM is going to provide the selected startups with access to market, funding, and mentorship. We also have a pool of mentors selected by the Atal Innovation Mission who the incubatees can approach whenever they need any advice.”

Sarita Fernandes, COO Kasoi, shares “It’s been an exciting experience and we’re thankful to the SUP team and sponsors for enabling this very crucial dialogue of building capacity for SUP alternative businesses like Kasoi. AIC-GIM has helped with mentorship, pilot orders and strategy advice. These have been very useful to our business in the significant stages of its development.”