Tech For Change

Founded in 2021, ed tech startup FunctionUp operates a pay-after-placement model and trains students in backend engineering, coding, and programming subjects. In 2021, serial entrepreneurs Bharat Gupta and Pritesh Kumar founded FunctionUp to bridge the gap between college education and the skills required for a job. Y-Combinator-backed FunctionUp is a placement boot camp-focused backend engineering learning platform, which trains candidates from any background in software development courses.

Bengaluru-based watertech startup Uravu Labs uses solar energy and non-polluting chemical desiccants like Silica to adsorb water from the air, sterilise it, and prepare for consumption. Founded in 2019 by Pardeep Garg, Swapnil Shrivastav, Venkatesh R and Govinda Balaji, Uravu Labs is dedicated to building an ‘atmospheric water generator’ that runs on 100% renewable energy. The water-from-air concept is not new, though, as many startups already operate in the space. But unlike Uravu, most of them use refrigeration as a method to condense air in the atmosphere, which is an expensive process with high energy requirements. Uravu’s method which uses a desiccant is relatively less capital-intensive and energy-intensive and also requires much less maintenance. The desiccant used in the machine has a shelf life of around ten years, and the rest of the components are mostly conventional electronic components like fans and pipes.

An ecopreneur by passion and a professional engineer, Surabhi Shah is responsible for Carragreen's marketing, finances, and product manufacturing. She is passionate about yoga and design. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law team are known for shattering social norms and are on a mission to offer customised, biodegradable, non-toxic, and eco-friendly products at reasonable prices. She established Carragreen in 2018, an eco-friendly startup based in Indore that specialises in biodegradable stationery and packaging options. Pens, pencils, seed paper diaries, and monthly calendars are all part of the product line. Additionally, it offers perforated biodegradable boxes that can be used to pack and transport food items and change into plates and spoons as needed. Wooden spoons called Carraspoons are a popular item. They work to make the planet Earth greener, cleaner, and healthier with their products.

13-year-old Anoushka Jolly, the founder, and CEO of InnerArk Blocktech Private Limited, Anti Bullying Squad (ABS), and Kavach, The Mobile App, is from Gurugram. She defines herself as an 8th grader who loves writing, entrepreneurship, and psychology. When she presented her idea on Shark Tank India, she was the youngest contestant. She has gained attention for her concept for the Kavach app, a tool to assist kids her age in combat bullying in schools and colleges. The awareness-building social initiative called the Anti-Bullying Squad seeks to reduce bullying in real life. This online community serves as a hub for experts who collaborate to plan one-on-one counselling sessions against bullying in schools. The platform was created with the intention of drastically reducing instances of the problem, and according to Jolly, with the assistance of schools, NGOs, and professionals, over 2,000 students from more than 100 schools and universities have benefited from ABS.