Startup Grand Challenge, winners can get Rs 50 lakh funding opportunity and prize money of up to Rs 2 lakh.

Indian Institute of Technology Mandi’s Technology Business Incubator is hosting the fifth edition of its annual flagship event, Himalayan Startup Trek (HST 2021) on December 11 and 12, 2021. The Startups, innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs can participate in this challenge and get an opportunity to win Rs 2 lakh cash prizes and Rs 50 lakh funding opportunity during the event. The last date to apply is 25th November 2021.

In its fifth edition, HST 2021 will host the ‘HST Startup Grand Challenge’ – startup pitch competition in three thematic areas including

i) New Age Alliance – Human-Computer Interaction with prize money of Rs 2 lakh,

ii) Foothill Innovators Challenge – Build for the Himalayas with prize money of Rs 1.25 lakh and

iii) Habitable World Challenge – Environment and Sustainability with prize money of Rs 2 lakh.

Startups, innovators and aspiring entrepreneurs can participate in this challenge and get an opportunity to win Rs 5 lakh cash prizes and Rs 50 lakh funding opportunity during the event. The last date to apply is November 25, 2021. Applications can be filled at iitmandicatalyst.in/hst/.

Each thematic areas have prize money of up to Rs 2 lakh to be distributed to the top 3 startups in the given themes. Apart from this, top startups will also be provided with incubation support and funding access for prototyping as well product development through various funding schemes hosted by Catalyst and provide upto Rs 50 lakh of funding.

It is worth mentioning here that in its short journey, IIT Mandi Catalyst has supported over 160 startups in a range of sectors including clean energy, healthcare, enterprise management, agriculture, manufacturing, biotech, education, and consumer internet. Catalyst has hosted over 100 such programs to date.

Further, the funding needs of startups in the early stages are also met through the funding schemes hosted at Catalyst which have disbursed or committed over Rs 6 crore for prototyping and commercialization purposes to the startups.

Through its support programs, IIT Mandi Catalyst guides early stage entrepreneurial initiatives by providing support in infrastructure, finances, mentoring, and industry connections, thereby making itself an attractive destination for startups across the country.