Ennovent to Promote the Millennium Alliance Awards

Mumbai, India, September 28, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Ennovent is supporting the Millennium Alliance - a joint initiative between FICCI, USAID, and the Technology Development Board, Government of India – to assist in the identification of innovations that will have a measurable development impact on Base of the Pyramid (BoP) populations across India.

There is no lack of innovation happening at India’s grassroots, however, because of limited access to financial resources and lack of capacity building measures, most innovations do not scale up to a level to have widespread impact on low-income communities at the BoP.

The Millennium Alliance, launched in July 2012, was developed in response to this critical development issue. The Millennium Alliance recognises India’s role as a global innovation laboratory and aims to identify, test and scale solutions by leveraging private and public sector resources and expertise to reduce the cost and increase the reach of development innovations in India and the rest of the world. The Millennium Alliance aims to be a $50 million fund by bringing together social impact funds, venture capitalists, corporate foundations, early investors, donors, to support innovators towards developing, testing, and scaling their innovations

“The Alliance is an endeavour to ensure that the development process is all inclusive, the benefits of social innovations reaches the poor in the most efficient and cost effective manner, thereby empowering the poor and the marginalised,” said Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Secretary General, FICCI upon the launch of the Alliance.

The Millennium Alliance is soliciting innovations from across India, and after a due diligence and competitive process, applicants with the highest development potential will be shortlisted and selected. The winning innovators will be announced on February 15, 2012 and shall be provided access to seed funding, grants, incubation, accelerator services, equity, debt, and other capital.

The winner in each category will receive financial and non-financial rewards such as funding, not exceeding INR 50,00,000 or $100,000 (Stage I enterprises; the fund amount to be used primarily as a seed capital) and funding not exceeding INR 3,75,00,000 or $750,000 (Stage II enterprises; the fund amount to be used for scaling up). Winners will also receive national visibility through online and offline promotion as well as capacity building through access to renowned mentors.

Ennovent is supporting the Millennium Alliance initiative through a unique online and offline search process leveraging crowdsourcing to identify the best innovations and enterprises that have a positive impact in addressing development challenges facing BoP populations across India.

Innovators – based in India or abroad – having developed an innovation with a measurable impact on BOP populations across India, are encouraged to apply here by submitting a Letter of Interest prior to November 15, 2012.