The global demand for cleantech innovation is at an all-time high. With the world asking for environmentally responsible power and technology solutions there has been significant growth in the cleantech industry and innovation within the last few years. One might even say that we are at the cusp of the energy and the fourth industrial revolution. This revolution is transforming the global energy sector as we have never witnessed before and India is on track to becoming one of the world’s largest producers of green energy.
Image Source: Ken Research
So, to create a low carbon technology innovation ecosystem, to build critical connections between the stakeholders like, the academia and innovators who provide the innovative solutions; the technical experts who fine-tune these solutions; investors who support the scaling-up, and industries that adopt the innovative solutions to reduce energy consumption to improve bottom line the Facility for Low Carbon Technology Deployment (FLCTD) came into existence. FLCTD is jointly implemented by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and is supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
This 5-year project not just aims to promote innovation of low-carbon technologies and their deployment in industrial and other related sectors of the Indian economy but to enhance the collaboration between government agencies, industry, innovators, the research community, financing institutions, and technology. It works to enhance the adoption of innovative low-carbon technologies across sectors and establish a sustainable innovation ecosystem for low-carbon technologies. FLCTD is guided by the need for competition and market orientation in cleantech innovations in India and along with the Acceleration Programme, it also conducts the Innovation Challenge.
FLCTD Innovation Challenges
It is an annual award competition that aims to shortlist the promising low-carbon technologies instrumental in reducing specific energy consumption for end-users. The “Innovation Challenge” competitions are conducted annually to identify innovative technologies and solutions and provides financial support for demonstration and testing in field conditions and accredited laboratories. By facilitating the demonstration of innovative solutions that can be scaled up, the project aims to catalyze their deployment towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
On the other hand, the FLCTD Accelerator program was designed when the FLCTD project identified that many promising innovations could not benefit the FLCTD grant support primarily owing to gaps in their business plans and go-to-market strategies for replication and scaling up. But before we dig further deep into the world of the FLCTD Acceleration Program it’s important to understand that what is an acceleration program?
To put it simply, an acceleration program is like a guided program delivered to startups seeking a product/market fit. These programs are of limited duration to help cohorts of startups with the new venture process. They usually provide a small amount of seed capital, plus working space and mentorship support.
FLCTD Acceleration Programme
This program is vital in providing capacity building to start-up entrepreneurs who are building innovative technologies to reduce carbon emissions. These accelerator programs occur twice a year, and each accelerator is expected to be completed in four to five months. During this period, Sangam plays the role in:
Conducting acceleration program with logistical support to all participants
Providing capacity building to successfully accelerate and “de-risk” cleantech start-ups to get them investor ready;
Offering need-based support to mature organizations;
Guiding innovators and connecting them to existing clean technology incubators;
Image Source: Sangam Team
The participating start-ups are provided with a thorough grounding in these essential concepts of entrepreneurship and new venture development. For early-stage startups, the focus is to enable the entrepreneurs to achieve a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
For later-stage startups, the focus is on exploring the business models and to reach Minimum Viable Repeatability (MVR). The entrepreneurs are coached to inculcate a Growth Mindset, work towards continuously stretching their capabilities, quickly learning and recovering from failures, and finding solutions to any problem that forms obstacles to their growth.
FLCTD Acceleration Program follows a set curriculum which is being designed with strong Indian examples from past Global Cleantech Innovation Program (GCIP) and previous FLCTD Acceleration Program to understand the: Who, Why, and How related to the startups.
The FLCTD Accelerator 3.0 has the following sectors in focus:
Industrial Low Carbon Technologies
AI, ML, IoT, Deep Tech
Food & Agriculture
Commercial and Residential Low GHG Tech
Resource Efficiency
Storage Technologies
Image Source: Sangam Team
The program focuses on various aspects of the growth of start-ups and learning is proportional to participation from start-ups end. It is expected that by end of this program, the selected entrepreneurs should be able to find their customers and proper funding opportunities.
As we are about to launch and announce the cohort full of excited innovators of FLCTD Accelerator 3.0 it’s important to understand that the sustainable energy market is quickly developing in India and has been standing out!
This is just a teaser blog for the FLCTD Acceleration Program, do stick around to get the updates about the current program and if you want to be part of the Sangam Team do join us!
To know more visit us at: https://www.aic-sangam.org/
Blog Credits: Shikhita Gupta
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