impACT I February'23 Edition

We're on the road to changing the game for women at the workplace, the startup way! 

The Women in India’s Startup Ecosystem Report (WISER) - a collaboration between ACT For Women & The Udaiti Foundation - aims to empower the startup ecosystem to change the status quo on women's workforce participation in India.

Participating startups will be able to unlock customised insights & recommendations, platforms for peer collaboration and curated resources for optimisation & implementation.

If you're a startup founder, take this 10 minute survey to participate!

ACT kicks off Tech Advisors For Social Change 2.0

This year will see a diverse group of 9 social enterprises, in and outside of our portfolio, collaborate with a resident tech advisor as well as multiple visiting advisors who'll share their expertise across the board for specific use cases.

We’re excited for the 2nd cohort to deep dive into their 12 week engagement and hope to build this program into a thriving community that takes ACTion!

Know more here!

ACT For Education grantee Rocket Learning wins the $3,00,000 Elevate Prize 2023! 

So proud of Rocket Learning for receiving such prestigious recognition! 

They're one of 12 global winners and have been recognised for leveraging technology to catalyse early childhood education, using research backed pedagogy that focuses on cognitive development as well as literacy and numeracy.

Watch the video here.

ACT Implementers Network catalyses a collaboration between Medprime Technologies and Mahan Trust 

The ACT Implementers Network aims to match the tech needs of social enterprises working among underserved communities with ACT supported innovations and launch pilot projects that can address identified need gaps.

As a part of this network, Mahan Trust - an NGO serving the healthcare needs of tribal communities in Melghat - will be able to leverage the digital microscopy solution by ACT For Health grantee Medprime to strengthen the use case for tele-pathology in low-resourced areas.

Know more here.

Niramai, from the ACT For Health portfolio, in spotlight on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List 

Dr. Siva Teja Kakileti, Principal Scientist & Director at Niramai, has been featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for 2023 and we couldn't be prouder!

A founding member of the team who leads machine learning, he is credited as a co-inventor of 24 patents and for playing a key role in the IP creation for Niramai.

Learn more about Niramai's breast cancer screening solution here.

Entrepreneur Speak: VOPA 

"Nurturing educators who shape the values and minds of generations would serve as a sustainable model for creating larger social change.”

Know more about ACT For Education grantee VOPA's journey, through the eyes of its co-founder Prafulla Shashikant, and learn how their ed-tech solution is enabling grade 1 to 10 students learn at home using contextualised content created by local teachers!

Read the article here.

In Spotlight: Zero Circle

“In the next three years, we’re looking to reduce anywhere between 2500 to 3,000 tonnes of plastic annually.”

Zero Circle, from the ACT For Environment portfolio, extracts dried biomass from seaweed and uses proprietary processes to make seaweed resins, which can be used to create flexible films as an alternative to plastic packaging.

Fully home-compostable and marine-degradable, their solution also offers additional revenue opportunities for seaweed farmers!

Know more about Neha Jain's journey in this article by The Better India.

Startups can help India accelerate its progress towards gender equity at the workplace

"Setting goals around gender diversity shows that the founder takes the agenda seriously and it becomes a priority - not just at an organisational level but across teams as well." 

Watch Aakanksha Gulati, Director - ACT, speak to CNBC about startups presenting a tremendous opportunity to address the workforce gender gap for India.

Watch the conversation here.