Aquaconnect, Chennai-based aquaculture technology platform, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with StartupTN to promote blue economy initiatives in the State. Through this, Aquaconnect aims to foster innovation and support the growth of new age start-ups in the aquaculture sector in the Sstate.
In line with this, Aquaconnect in collaboration with StartupTN — backed by the Tamil Nadu government and Sathyabama University-Technology Business Incubator (Incubation Partner) — launched ‘The Fish Tank’-India’s Grand Aquaculture Innovation Challenge, at the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet.
The Fish Tank aims to promote innovation in the Indian aquaculture sector by providing a unique platform for early-stage start-ups and college students (UG/PG/PhD) to showcase their next-generation ideas to the world and scale for impact.
The programme will cover broader aspects of the aquaculture value chain in both pre- & post-harvest value chain wherein applicants can propose ideas related to affordable IoT/Software-based solutions to monitor water quality, daily feeding, animal health, biotechnological advancements to improve production efficiency, seafood processing, preservation, and value addition amongst others, says a release.
Sivarajah Ramanathan, Mission Director & CEO of StartupTN, StartupTN’s Blue economy forum is a professional network to promote collaborative efforts among government initiatives, academia, and industry players. This drive a transformative growth to make Tamil Nadu a hub for seafood-focused start-ups.
According to Rajamanohar Somasundaram, Founder & CEO, Aquaconnect, FishTank will be a pivotal step in fostering young entrepreneurship and unlocking the doors for incredible talent in Tamil Nadu. Two winners will be selected and get ₹1 lakh each and an opportunity to work with Aquaconnect to launch and scale their solution in the market, the release said.
Aquaconnect is supported by investments from Omnivore Partners, Hatch Accelerator, Flourish Ventures, Rebright Partners, Agfunder, Lok Capital, LDC, Suneight Investments, and 6G Capital.