Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

Honeywell Ties Up With IISC For Supporting Deep-Science Start-ups To Encourage Entrepreneurship

February 20, 2023
Honeywell

Honeywell has announced Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation (HHSIF), the philanthropic arm of Honeywell, in partnership with IISc’s Society for Innovation and Development (SID) will continue to support deep-science startups to encourage entrepreneurship and scientific innovations to support society. The objective of the initiative is to bridge the gap that startups face between incubation and early seed investments.

The initiative aims to support startups engaged in deep science to create innovations that can have a positive societal impact.

It part of Honeywell’s Start Up Support Program which has been running for the last few years. The initiative also helps to increase collaboration between industry and technology-based start-ups in furthering the innovations for successful outcomes.

The startups supported through the program range from highly advanced healthcare start-ups like Azooka Labs, HealthSeq Precision Medicine, Equine Biotech, Protein Design, Siamaf Healthcare, Mimyk Medical Simulations, PathShodh Healthcare, and Theranautilus to those in Sustainability space like Openwater.in.

Around 30 startups have been funded by Honeywell’s CSR arm HHSIF in the past years. Most of these startups are led by either women or teams that are from the underprivileged communities. These startups are focused on finding solutions in the fields of biotechnology, healthcare, and nanotechnology that have the potential to offer advanced scientific solutions to some of the pressing needs in healthcare and environment.

Prof B Gurumoorthy, Chief Executive at SID, said, “Deep-science startups are problem-oriented and map to at least one of the sustainable development goals. Support for such ventures is inadequate and one of the reasons is the lack of understanding of the underlying science and technology that tends to be diverse and complex. Honeywell and HHSIF have recognized the need to support such startups and we are delighted with their continuing financial support.  SID and HHSIF will work together to provide startups with the necessary support and resources to thrive. HHSIF will provide seed capital, while SID will provide infrastructure and technical support. This year, Honeywell’s CSR grant has helped nine startups and three EIRs in diverse areas such as Energy, Water, MedTech, Packaging Materials, etc. last year. MagHeals, IndiaSpeaks Research Labs, Dfine Bio-Innovations, HEM Dimensions are a few of the startups that will be funded this year.”.

Honeywell aims to increasingly involve experts from the company in mentoring the startups, building their capacities, and helping them scale up.

Pooja Thakran, Director, HHSIF, said, “Deep science startups are the engine of innovation, and they are critical to shaping the future. By supporting these startups, we are able to tap into the boundless potential of research ecosystem and support development of solutions through premier research institutes like IISc in our country. By funding these startups, we are fostering the next generation of game-changing technologies that will address some of the world’s most pressing health and environmental challenges. Through this, we hope to give initial support to the deserving innovators who have the potential to make a lasting impact on the society.”

Honeywell partnered with IISC –SID in 2019 to support the science and technology startups and to Entrepreneurship-in-residence program (EIR) programs with specific support to entrepreneurs who have the potential to offer solutions that can significantly address societal issues and challenges in healthcare and environment. Since 2019 Honeywell has supported in incubating close to 30 startups.

The startups to be supported in this year’s initiative are MagHeals Pvt Ltd, IndiaSpeaks Research Labs, Dfine Bio-innovations Pvt Ltd, Reti Ecotech, 14Si Silcon Solutions Pvt Ltd, Ikshana Medical, Open MedLabs, Nature Wrks Technologies and HEM Dimensions Private Limited.

Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation (HHSIF) is a not-for-profit organization that deploys Honeywell’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts in three critical areas, Education, Skill and Research, Holistic and Sustainable Community Development, and Humanitarian Relief.

SID was set up in 1991 in close collaboration with Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore. IISc is one of the premier research-led academic institutions in the world. It has more than a hundred illustrious years of history in the creation of original knowledge and furthering the frontiers of basic as well as engineering sciences.