8 tech nonprofits complete incubation, applications invited for the next cohort of 10
N/Core and Cisco hosted a graduation and demo day for the eight non-profits of N/Core tech’s inaugural cohort. This cohort, supported by Cisco CSR, was selected from over 700 applicants. The eight non-profit start-ups will demonstrate the solutions at Soiree, the graduation demo day to a diverse audience comprising business and CSR leaders, philanthropists, impact investors, and Cisco’s leadership in India.
One of the uniqueness of the inaugural cohort is its diversity and the varied experiences of each of the non-profits and its founders. 3 of the 8 organizations have been founded by women. One of the youngest founders of the cohort is an engineering student at IIT Madras who founded Involve Learning Solutions Foundation last year, an innovative learning platform for over 1000 students.
Following the success of N/Core tech’s first cohort, N/Core is now accepting applications for the second tech cohort. Applications are invited from nonprofits startups that use technology to solve social problems. “Innovation, Scale and Speed are core values of N/Core. The distance covered by our entrepreneurs over the past few months is evidence of their commitment to solving problems at scale, with a sense of urgency” – said Priya Ajmera, Director of N/Core tech.
Congratulating the graduating cohort, Harish Krishnan, Managing Director, Public Affairs and Strategic Engagements, Cisco India said, “Our collaboration with N/Core is focused on building a generation of problem solvers who harness the power of technology to tackle social problems at scale. Each entrepreneur of this cohort has creatively used technology to transform promising ideas into reality. We are excited at the possibilities that these solutions can address.”
Selected founders were also mentored by renowned leaders namely, Sanjay Purohit, ex-Chairman of Infosys Consulting; Maneesh Dhir, former MD of Apple India; K R Lakshminaraya, Chief Endowment Officer of Azim Premji Foundation; Ujwal Thakar, ex CEO of Pratham and GiveIndia; S K Jain, co-founder of WestBridge Capital; Madhav Chavan, founder of Pratham, and Kamakshi Rao, formerly Senior VP at Capital. The start-ups were also mapped to technology leaders at Cisco for technology-specific mentoring to scale their solutions.
