DBS Foundation awarded grants to six sustainability-focused enterprises that were featured in Season 3 of Shark Tank India. The selected enterprises have a dual bottom line of both profit and purpose, i.e., positive social or environmental impact integrated into their business model, the firm said in a release.
The DBS Foundation encourages start-ups to unlock growth via grant funding and non-financial support in the form of mentorship, networking, and capacity building.
DBS Bank India partnered with Sony Entertainment Television to co-power Season 3 of Shark Tank India. The funding by the DBS Foundation of the six sustainability-focused businesses featured on the show is in line with the bank’s underlying belief that these enterprises can be agents of change, while contributing to economic growth.
The grant size for each individual enterprise ranges from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh and will be utilised by the respective winners to build consumer awareness, scale operations, and deploy technology to enhance productivity.
Among these start-ups, The Honest Home Company stands out for its mission to reduce plastic usage by offering responsible packaging alternatives. Dharaksha Ecosolutions creates biodegradable alternatives for packaging materials with the aim to curb stubble burning and plastic pollution. Without (by Ashaya) is a social enterprise that produces sunglasses from unrecyclable plastic waste and multi-layered plastic, such as packets of chips. FarmDidi is a foodtech startup, operating as a direct-to-consumer brand with a mission to provide high-quality food and empower 1 million rural women.
XMachines offers robotic solutions for farm operations to address the growing scarcity of agricultural labour. Interestingly, one of the DBS Foundation’s previous grant awardees, Trestle Labs, was also featured on Shark Tank India Season 3 and will now receive additional funding as part of this cohort.
Shoma Narayanan, managing director, and head, group strategic marketing and communications, DBS Bank India said, “Our partnership with Shark Tank India and Sony Entertainment Television has helped us enhance our outreach to the start-up segment. It has also given us access to some groundbreaking Businesses for Impact who are leveraging innovation to make a positive impact to the environment and to society. By supporting the growth of the grant recipients through the DBS Foundation we hope to help them further scale up their impact.”
In 2023, the foundation engaged with over 380,000 stakeholders including customers, SMEs, social enterprises, students, and partners through a variety of forums and partnerships.
