Tamil Nadu govt makes Rs 7.5 crore equity investment in 5 SC/ST startups

With an aim to encourage entrepreneurs from marginalised communities, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday sanctioned equity investments to the tune of Rs 7.5 crore in five startups run by business persons from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities.

Infusion to equity means the state government becoming a shareholder in the startups that are involved in varied businesses and getting a chance to guide them. The government has infused Rs 7.5 crore under the Tamil Nadu SC/ST Startup Fund through Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission (StartupTN).

The Tamil Nadu SC/ST Startup Fund is an equity investment and debt fund under which Rs 30 crore was sanctioned and so far the scheme has attracted 330 applications since May 2022. In the first phase, five companies have been shortlisted by the Project Sanction Committee after a detailed evaluation of the startups.

Unibose Technology Pvt. Ltd Investment, which got Rs 2.5 crore as equity funding, is involved in developing and building robots for cleaning vessels that store hazardous materials in the oil and gas industry and sewer lines, while the Rs 2 crore invested in Pack N Back Solutions Pvt. Ltd will help create a Track and Trace logistics platform to track containers by embedding RFID tags.

Rs 1 crore was sanctioned for Ywe Auto Assist India Pvt. Ltd. (TowMan) and it will help the company get the much-awaited access to provide its services to corporate clients. Eco Soft Zolutions Pvt. Ltd, which received Rs 1 crore will help the company to pivot from a software services provider to a SaaS product provider in the automotive domain, eventually becoming a fintech solutions provider.

PEAS Automation Technologies Pvt. Ltd will use the funds to move to the development and sale of their range of Mobile Multiprocessing Units for food grains.

Officials said the equity investment from the government in these startups brings more credibility to the companies, thereby helping them acquire new clients, and expand to more markets and sales spaces. “StartupTN will also provide mentoring and post-investment support that will help them achieve their goals and milestones more efficiently and effectively,” a senior official said.

Startup TN also provides Rs 10 lakh for startups as seed funding with over 85 such companies receiving the first instalment of Rs 5 lakh.