NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant launches LetsVenture’s EV Innovation Labs
EV Innovation Labs is a part of LetsVenture's new venture, LetsAccelerate, to help accelerators and incubators manage their programmes more effectively and make their startups better prepared for fundraising.
Angel investing and startup fundraising platform LetsVenture launched its LetsAccelerate initiative to help accelerators and incubators manage their operations more effectively and support their startups with being better prepared for fundraising.
According to a company statement, LetsAccelerate will be working closely with incubators and accelerators, both public and private, across India.
LetsAccelerate will help accelerators and incubators with online resources such as frameworks, curriculum, insights, and best practices, sourcing of applications and curating cohort, skill-building programmes in the form of boot camps, workshops, and online resources, and end-to end programme management of accelerator or incubation programmes including assistance with the fundraising for their startups with LetsVenture’s pool of 6,500 angel investors and 300+ VCs.
LetsAccelerate is being helmed by startup ecosystem veteran and Founder of Applyifi Prajakt Raut.
As a first step in this venture, NITI Aayog's CEO, Amitabh Kant, launched LetsAccelerate’s EV Innovation Labs. Commenting on the launch, he said,
“Look at what startups are doing in the emobility space. We are proud of them and want to support them. We have created special policy measures by slashing GST on EVs to 5 percent versus 28 percent for combustion engines. We have created a Rs 1.5 lakh tax exemption to encourage consumers to buy vehicles and, of course, the FAME II scheme to push electric mobility. We will soon be pushing for setting up of bigger factories for battery manufacturing. We are open to listening to new ideas and pushing them, so I encourage all founders to push the envelope.”
The EV Innovation Labs is a platform to identify, nurture, and fund high-potential startups in the electric vehicle space with deep-engaged mentoring, access to capital, and access to the industry, the statement added.
Speaking at the launch of LetsAccelerate and its first iteration of EV Innovation Labs, Shanti Mohan, Co-founder and CEO of LetsVenture said,
“Every year, LetsVenture evaluates thousands of startups and showcases hundreds of startups to investors - this has given us a vantage perspective on what investors are looking for. We have leveraged these insights into LetsAccelerate to help accelerators and incubators make their startups’ investment ready for angel and early-stage investors. The combination of Prajakt’s mentoring experience and LetsVenture’s funding platform makes LetsAccelerate not just unique, but also the most comprehensive in helping accelerators deliver exceptional outcomes.”
(Edited by Athirupa Geetha Manichandar)