The New Year has begun on a note of optimism for We-Hub, the city-based incubation centre which exclusively fosters and promotes women entrepreneurship. For, 2021 was a year of achievements with six startups incubated there raising nearly ₹5 crore.
WE-Hub CEO Deepthi Ravula said fintech startup Macromoney, social enterprise Oorvi Sustainable Concepts, cloud kitchen startup Sortizy, and digital media tech startup Newsreach raised ₹4 crore in equity funds. Other startups were given grants and debt funds.
In an effort to reach other areas in the State and tackle hurdles that hinder women from taking up their entrepreneurial journey, Ms Ravula said incubation centres in Warangal and Peddapalli districts and Ramagundam were established. Plans are afoot to reach a larger number of women entrepreneurs in rural areas such as those in Mahbubabad, Sircilla, Khammam, and Nizamabad.
2021 was dotted with collaborative efforts. WE-Hub partnered with the government of Jammu and Kashmir and Gujarat. More collaborations are on the anvil.
Meanwhile, the year saw other WE Hub-incubated startups such as Startoons Labs, a medical devices company, raising a round of angel funding, and an institutional investment from IKP Knowledge Park.
The company managed to increase its headcount from three to 15 in 2021, and began production of 1,000 units of their product Pheezee, a device which tracks recovery of patients undergoing physiotherapy, and also assists physiotherapists.
Others like Innogle, also a WE-Hub-incubated startup that has come up with Kadalcompass, a device that can be installed on boats and vessels of fishermen to help them identify fishing zones in real time, now plan to implement their solution. They expect to have measurable outcomes in the next couple of years.
Their 5G-enabled device was adjudged as one of the best 5G use case by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India.
It was awarded by DoT for being one of the best use cases to educate and introduce how IoUT (Internet of Underwater Things) works with 5G technology.
