Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organised AgLive 2023: The Millet Challenge, a Pitch session for Millets based Startups as part of  the  Global Shree Anna Conference at New Delhi on 18th March 2023.

AgLive 2023 – The Millet Challenge, aimed at making an impact by increasing interaction amongst millet-based innovators/entrepreneurs, investors, and other stakeholders, addressing issues and challenges specific to millets. Young entrepreneurs and innovators pitched their millet based innovative products and technologies  before a distinguished Jury, comprising of Business leaders, Incubators and Investors to mobilize funding and secure potential incubation opportunities.

Mr. S Sivakumar, Chairman, CII Core Group on AgTech and Group Head, Agri & IT Businesses, ITC Ltd; Dr. Neeru Bhooshan, Assistant Director General, Intellectual Property & Technology Management (IP&TM) ICAR; Mr Prashant Parameswaran, Managing Director, Tata Consumer Soulfull Private Ltd; Mr. Subhadeep Sanyal, Partner, Omnivore Partners; Mr. Emmanuel Murray, Investment Director, Caspian Impact Investment; Mr. Gaurav Kumar, Director, Mandala Capital; Dr Mijanur Rahman, Director, R&D, PepsiCo; Ms Mahima Joshi, Senior Portfolio Analyst, Social Alpha; Mr Rohit Dhanda, AVP, Capital Markets & Strategic Alliance, Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Pvt. Ltd and Mr Jagdeep Marahar, Managing Director and Head, Nestle R&D Centre India Pvt Ltd were eminent members of the Jury.

10 innovators from a pool of 50 applicants were shortlisted and were evaluated on parameters including novelty of idea, reach & scope of the products, financial stability amongst others.

The winner AgroZee Organics Pvt Ltd focuses on providing a cost-effective and sustainable post-harvest storage solution for Farmers, Farmer Producer Companies, SHGs, and Entrepreneurs for optimizing moisture content and removal of insects in millets.

Some More Foods Pvt. Ltd, the First runner up, focuses on delivering nutritious functional food prepared by millets by replacing unhealthy ingredients in popular food products like noodles, pasta, sevai, cookies etc with healthier ingredients.

Grans’s Goodness, the Second runner up is a growing Made in India, food venture that offers millet-based, healthy, and nutritious food to health-conscious consumers.

20 March 2023

New Delhi