Agriculture accounts for 16.2% of the total GHG emissions in India
Climate risks can reduce agricultural income by
15-25%
4.5-9% negative impact on production implies cost of climate change at ~1.5% of the GDP annually
Krishi Mangal aims at making farm & allied livelihoods efficient, sustainable and climate resilient for the wellbeing of small & marginal farmers by bringing together the power of innovation, entrepreneurship, and communities.
Krishi Mangal is an 18-month Market Access and Scale-up Accelerator for 10 in-revenue start-ups working in agriculture & rural livelihoods with a focus on sustainably empowering the agricultural ecosystem to increase farm incomes under climate variabilities.
CALLING FOR INNOVATIONS
We invite start-ups focusing on sustainable agricultural systems that have a positive climate impact to apply. They must have solutions that demonstrate scalability, have established product-market fit, and create a tangible impact on small and marginal farmers.
10 start-ups will receive a grant for field implementation and venture acceleration support such as marketing, go-to-market support, fundraising, technology refinement, and mentorship from Cisco experts.
WHO SHOULD APPLY?
The program is looking for in-revenue start-ups with innovative solutions fitting the following criteria:
- Start-ups should demonstrate innovation in their product/service, business model, or operating model and must align to the focus areas outlined in the program. Applicants using digital technology solutions to create value can also apply, given they can demonstrate tangible and direct impact of their intervention for small and marginal farmers.
- Start-ups applying should demonstrate market validation, have early traction/paying customers for their solution, and be ready to scale.
- Ideal applications are solutions that are at TRL 7 to the fully commercialised stage.
PROGRAM OFFERINGS
Market Access/Field Implementation – INR 42 Lakhs per start-up
Access to 12-month field implementation to scale the solution
Venture Acceleration Support – Up to INR 5 Lakhs per start-up
- Market Access – Access to Social Alpha’s strong implementation/grassroots partner and program network
- Dedicated Portfolio Management – Assistance with developing go-to-market strategy and overall business advisory for 1 year
- Fundraising support – Assistance with fundraising collaterals and other requirements; Access to Social Alpha’s large and diverse
investor and donor network - Marketing and Branding – Assistance with marketing collaterals, designing and other requirements
- Product Support – Assistance with product development, refinement, and design
- Networking Opportunity – Access to Cisco’s wide range of global and local partners
Cisco Mentorship
1-1 Mentor sessions with Cisco experts on Product refinement, HR strategy, Sales and GTM, Supply chain management, etc.
Water - Soil - Crop Nexus for Climate Resilience
Degraded soil conditions due to a combination of intensive monocropping, overuse of chemical inputs, and polluted and exploited water resources are further increasing the vulnerability to climate risk.
Focus Areas
- Soil rejuvenation through non-chemical-based soil conditioning solutions that restore soil microbiology, and improve soil structure, properties, and compositions.
- On-farm soil diagnostics technologies integrated with Advisory for soil regeneration and crop management.
- Early-stage pest/crop disease detection and advisory to minimise crop damage.
- Alternatives to chemical inputs & pesticides to reduce the environmental and nutritional impact.
- Climate-resilient, and easy-to-deploy micro-scale Farm Infrastructure.
- Efficient tools for land preparation, input application, inter cultivation, plant protection, harvesting etc. that reduce drudgery, and improve efficiency for small land parcels.
- Smart and energy-efficient irrigation management systems for better water pumping, micro irrigation.
- Micro-scale water management including ground water/ surface water storage, retention, harvesting and efficient utilisation on farm.
- Mapping and monitoring of water resources and their management including water quality, rejuvenation, and ground water recharging.
- Hyperlocal weather forecast models to deliver actionable insights for better farm-specific decision-making.
Allied Livelihoods for Resilience
With crop-based incomes at the mercy of climate events, the allied sector can play an increased role in stabilising the farm incomes. However, lack of productivity, and high risks in allied activities need innovations to make them profitable and thriving.
Focus Areas
- Solutions to enhance the productivity of livestock via cost effective alternative feed and fodder.
- Early-stage disease diagnostics and health management in cattle and other ruminant livestock.
- Affordable and effective tools for timely heat cycle detection, reliable artificial insemination, and rapid pregnancy test kits for livestock.
- Local decentralised production of high-quality spawn / fingerling with additional ability to support local variety of fish.
- Variety-specific formulation of balanced fish feed, which cater to protein and other nutritional requirements in a single feed source.
- Early-stage disease identification and access to remedial solutions.
- Access to affordable production equipment coupled with actionable advisory and market linkages for inland fisheries/ other aquaculture related livelihoods.
Post-harvest Management for Climate Mitigation
The effect of heat, humidity, early ripening, decay, pest attacks, physical damage lead to decrease in nutrient value, quality and shelf-life of the produce leading to food loss. Food loss caused due to absence of appropriate post-harvest solutions at farmgate leads to significant loss in income for farmers.
Inability to find markets leads to further economic loss for farmers and causes food waste adversely impacting the climate with increased GHG emissions.
Focus Areas
Shelf-life Enhancement and Value Addition
- Decentralised, affordable, multi-commodity infrastructure for storage of Agri-produce at the farmgate.
- Solutions to prevent early ripening and extend the shelf life of Agri produce at the farmgate and during transit.
- Affordable, modular, low-capacity, energy efficient processing machinery and value addition technologies for perishable produce at the farmgate for small farmer groups.
- Efficient and affordable pre-processing technologies including combined harvesters and threshers for non-perishable produce at the farmgate.
TIMELINE
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Applications open for Krishi Mangal
16th November 2022
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Deadline for applications
18th December 2022
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Initial evaluation
20th December 2022 –
4th January 2023 -
Virtual jury round
23rd – 25th January 2023
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Final cohort selection
3rd February 2023
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Field implementation and venture acceleration support
1st March 2023
ECOSYSTEM PARTNER
frequently asked questions
To know more about the Krishi Mangal 2.0 Accelerator Program, we request you to go through the FAQs section:
Eligibility:
1. Who can apply for the program?
Krishi Mangal 2.0 is a search for innovators and entrepreneurs with transformative technologies that address a curated set of challenges faced by the smallholder farmers with a focus on sustainably empowering the agricultural ecosystem to increase farm incomes under climate variability. Organisations with the potential to create impact, scale across locations and demonstrate business model sustainability are eligible to apply.
2. What would be the ideal stage of the product for the program?
Startups applying to Krishi Mangal 2.0 should be startups that are in-revenue. Typically, this would involve startups that are at TRL 7 stage & above and check the boxes below:
- Solution Validation – Start-ups should demonstrate product validation from the market
- Early traction/Paying customers – The product is ready, already in the market (with few paying customers) and can be scaled.
3. Is there any preference for an innovation?
Start-ups should demonstrate innovation in their product/service, business model or operating model and must be aligned to the focus areas outlined in the program. Applicants using digital technology solutions to create value are also open to apply given they can demonstrate tangible and direct impact of their intervention for small and marginal farmers.
4. Is the challenge open for International Start-ups?
No, only start-ups registered in India with more than 50% shareholding by Indian promoters are eligible to apply for the program
Program Structure:
1. How many applications will be selected?
10 Applications satisfying the focus areas of Krishi Mangal 2.0 will be selected as the final cohort.
2. What is the structure of the program?
The structure of the program consists of a 12 month on ground pilot implementation, which will commence as per the dates mentioned under the selection process. Selected start-ups will be introduced to the Social Alpha program team and respective Portfolio Managers will be allotted towards each of the start-ups, who will act as an advisor and help facilitate several opportunities across domains such as knowledge sessions, need assessment workshops, mentorship sessions, connections relating to incubation support etc. to ensure that the start-ups are able to utilize the 12 months adequately.
3. What is the duration of the on the ground implementation?
The on-ground implementation is a 12-month long engagement. This will consist of field implementation, accelerator, incubation services and CISCO mentorship.
4. What are the different types of benefits I can avail from the program?
Winners will receive an incubation programme covering one or many of the following depending on their need’s assessment.
- I) Market Scale up / Field Implementation – Rs. 42 Lakhs per startup: Access to 12-month field implementation to scale the solution.
- II) Venture Acceleration support – up to Rs 5 Lakhs per start-up
- a. Market Access – Access to Social Alpha’s strong implementation/grassroots partner and program network
- b. Dedicated Portfolio Management – Assist with developing go-to-market strategy and overall business advisory for 1 year
- c. Fundraising support – Assistance with fundraising collaterals and other requirements; Access to Social Alpha’s large and diverse investor and donor network
- d. Marketing and Branding – Assistance with marketing collaterals, designing and other requirements
- e. Product Support – Assistance with product development, refinement and design
- f. Networking Opportunity – Access to CISCO’s wide range of global and local partners
- III) CISCO Mentorship – 1-1 Mentor sessions with CISCO experts on capacity building and knowledge sessions
Program Offerings:
5. Do I have to be physically present for any cohort-based sessions? Is attendance necessary?
As part of the program, there may be a requirement to attend certain sessions in person. The winners will be required to attend the launch event and Investor Showcase. The incubatees will be required to attend relevant workshops, field visits, events and demo days during the incubation period physically/virtually. Unless there is a pre-communicated genuine and unavoidable reason for absence, winners/incubatees missing most of the program will not only lose the actual benefits of their selection but may also be reconsidered for continuing with the program.
6. Is the mentoring paid or free?
Mentoring is one of the core offerings of the Krishi Mangal Accelerator 2.0 as part of the continuous engagement and the winners will be provided access to CISCO’s esteemed network of mentors.
7. How frequently will Social Alpha interface with the winners during the program?
There will be regular interface between the winning teams and the implementation team. Monthly cadence calls will be taking place with each of the start-ups, which can be used as a platform to monitor and assess the progress of each of the start-ups and a platform to specifically cater to the requests of each start-up. Each start-up will also be allocated a portfolio manager to help with customized requests who will continually and regularly engage with the start-ups.
8. What is the process to avail the acceleration support through the program?
Venture acceleration support is one of the core offerings available under the Krishi Mangal 2.0 programme. Start-ups will receive an amount of up to Rs. 5 Lakh to receive certain offerings as mentioned earlier. The process to receive the incubation support is as follows:
| Initial strategy discussion with Portfolio Manager and start-up | The Portfolio Manager and the startup to have initial discussions to decide on how exactly the Rs. 5L for acceleration will be budgeted. Startups will have the opportunity to personalize the offering. |
| Need Assessment Workshop | Need Assessment workshops will be conducted with Social Alpha Experts, to help startups identify which service areas they can leverage under the Acceleration support. |
| Customized Venture Acceleration Plan | Basis the workshop, startups will decide upon the acceleration support that they require. |
| Help start-up find vendors for the services | Usage of Social Alphas and CISCOs network, to help startup for various acceleration services. |
| Grant Disbursement | Venture Acceleration Grant worth Rs.5Lakhs to be disbursed to the startup for the agreed upon service offerings they wish to use for the KM 2.0 Program |
Selection Process
1. What are the important dates to remember during the selection process? By when will the results be announced?
| Date | Event |
| 16th November 2022 | Applications open for Krishi Mangal |
| 18th December 2022 | Deadline for applications |
| 20th December 2022 – 4th January 2023 | Initial evaluation |
| 23rd – 25th January 2023 | Virtual Jury round |
| 3rd February 2023 | Final cohort selection |
| 1st March 2023 onwards | Field Implementation and Venture Acceleration support |
2. Can I submit my application post deadline?
No, applications submitted post the stated deadline will not be considered for evaluation.
Terms and Conditions
Please read the following terms and conditions before submitting your entry:
Eligibility
- Participating or proposed ventures should be independent entities, meaning that they should not be a subsidiary of an existing corporation or have legal ties to a government body.
- Existing non-profits can participate; however, they should propose a venturing idea or a plan to transform their existing solutions into a more sustainable solution.
- As the program is looking for start-ups to work on establishing marketing channels for existing products, and not research, only those with developed ideas and/or prototypes should apply.
- The applicant should be a registered company /willing to be registered in India. The shareholding by Indian promoters in the company should be at least 51%.
Submissions and Participation
- Submissions which are incomplete will be deemed void and disqualified from the program evaluations.
- Submissions should be the original work of the participant/participating entity and should demonstrate positive social or environmental impact, have a disruptive technology innovation with potential to be sustainable and scalable in India (though not exclusively in the region).
- Participants who are determined to be ‘Finalists’, ranked in the final evaluation stage might be required to send at least one core member for the final round of evaluations.
- Winners agree to the use of their names, photographs, disclosure of their country of residence; and are required to cooperate with any other reasonable requests by the organiser relating to any publicity-related activities.
- Winners are required to submit a declaration of good standing and solvency at the final stage of evaluation. If there is any change in circumstance that invalidates their good standing and solvency, the team is to immediately inform the organisers.
- All participants own the rights to their ideas. Participants must properly acknowledge any trademarks, patented or copyrighted materials of others that are incorporated into the submission materials. Participants are responsible for obtaining any necessary permission before utilizing such materials into their submissions.
- Submitted ideas are protected in the spirit of non-disclosure, and all submitted materials will be treated as company confidential. The only people with access to the entry materials will be evaluators/judges, partners and select members of the organising committee. Materials will not be distributed to any other party unless requested by a participant. No other provisions are made to protect intellectual property.
- Participants are advised not to disclose critical information which would affect a successful filing of patent(s). All presentations are open to the general public, and some presentations may be videotaped. Attendance by media personnel is expected in the final stages of the program. Any data or information discussed or divulged in public sessions by participants should be considered information that will likely enter the public realm, and entrants should not assume any right of confidentiality in any data or information discussed, divulged or presented in these sessions.
Decisions regarding the winners
- The selection of the ‘Winners’ is at the sole discretion of the judges and the organisers from Social Alpha and partnering organisations. Best efforts will be made to make decisions in accordance with this document.
- Throughout all phases of the Quest, all decisions of the judges are final.
Disqualification and Organiser’s Right to Amend Competition Rules
- The organisers of the program reserve the right to disqualify any participant who is found to have violated the spirit of the application guidelines and terms and conditions stated herein. Disqualified participants shall forfeit all prizes awarded to them.
- The organisers reserve the right to amend these rules at any point before the Closing Date of the applications in line with the overall goal of the Quest.
- The indicated dates for the applications may be revised at any point of time by the organisers. Any change in schedule will be suitably intimated on the applications webpage and on other relevant platforms.
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