Social Alpha and Tata Trusts launch ‘Quest for Urban Livability’ for innovators and entrepreneurs to solve challenges for cities

Mumbai, March 6, 2019: Social Alpha in partnership with the Tata Trusts, announced the launch of the ‘Quest for Urban Livability’, a first-of-its-kind nationwide scouting program for innovators and entrepreneurs who are working to solve complex problems of urbanization through deep-science & tech innovation. Shri Ajoy Mehta, Municipal Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Shri Praveen Pardeshi, Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister, Government of Maharashtra and Ms.Annie Dubè, Consul General of Canada in India and Municipal Commissioners of other corporations in Maharashtra were present at the launch. The goal of the Quest is to identify innovative enterprises that are looking to deploy their solutions across six high priority areas viz. waste, water and sanitation, environment and pollution, traffic and mobility, sustainable habitat and municipal systems. The Quest will support entrepreneurs with technology innovations that can solve problems of urbanization and cities in a scalable and sustainable manner. The Quest is looking for entrepreneurs/start-ups that have: · Innovations that can improve city level outcomes and enable higher quality of life in Urban India · Solutions that are replicable and can be scaled in other cities, communities and geographies in India · Innovations that are at the prototype stage and above and can be readily piloted in an urban use-case Selected candidates will receive comprehensive incubation support from Social Alpha which will include seed capital support of up to INR 1 crore, opportunities to carry out pilots with urban local bodies, state governments and other implementation agencies for a period of 6-18 months, hands-on business planning and go-to market strategy support, access to a curated set of knowledge offerings, mentorship opportunities and access to a diverse and larger investor ecosystem. Speaking at the launch, Manoj Kumar, Head of Institutions, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Tata Trusts and CEO, Social Alpha, said, “We believe that science and technology based innovations have the potential to solve complex social, economic and environment challenges in a sustainable and scalable manner. The Social Alpha Quest for Urban Livability is an attempt to tackle growing issues of Indian cities in high priority areas by unleashing the power of entrepreneurship and deep science and tech innovations. The Quest will support promising start-ups with the potential to transform and enhance the quality of life of urban citizens and support government and local administrations with effective tools in better planning and delivery.” Shri. Ajoy Mehta, Municipal Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Maharashtra, said, “The most important thing for a city is the quality of life it offers, followed by jobs and housing. One of the key challenge that Mumbai faces is the lack of open spaces and our focus is on creating more of the same along with better hospitals and schools. Currently, we aim to build a strong transport network and hence we are building metros and creating a support for the railways by building a coastal highway so that Mumbai becomes more accessible to people.” Shri. Praveen Pardeshi, Additional Chief Secretary to Hon’ble Chief Minister said, “Maharashtra is the engine of India’s growth and our Chief Minister has been working very seriously on pushing us from a USD 400 billion economy to a USD 1 trillion economy in the next five years. The most critical aspect for a city is its planning and the ability to combine private and public investments towards public transport and other public related services.” The Quest was launched at the Symposium on Transforming Urban Livability organized by the Tata Trusts and University of Toronto in Mumbai today. The Symposium brought together stakeholders from the government, academia, entrepreneurship and investment ecosystem to have a discussion on the core challenges of urbanization and cities. University of Toronto President Meric Gertler, a renowned urban scholar, was the keynote speaker at the symposium, and he reflected on the role of universities in contributing to innovation and building successful cities. “Universities connect cities to global knowledge networks, and produce educated graduates and entrepreneurs who are ready to contribute to global challenges." The Quest will also provide an opportunity to leverage University of Toronto's School of Cities’ knowledge and expertise in urban planning and research pertaining to issues of cities in India. The Social Alpha Quest for Urban Livability is open for applications starting today, March 06, 2019 and will be accepting applications till April 21, 2019.