HDFC Bank, the leading private sector lender, today disbursed SmartUp grants cumulatively worth Rs 50 million to start-ups working in the social sector. These grants are helping to nurture start-ups that offer unique solutions to bring about sustainable change in society and the environment. These grants have been offered under the aegis of Parivartan, the umbrella name for the bank's social initiatives.

In Bengaluru, 20 start-ups were awarded these grants. This takes the total tally to more than 60 starts-ups who have been given this grant over the past three years. 30 shortlisted start-ups made presentations to a jury panel, out of which SmartUp grants were offered to about 20 start-ups.

The Bank works through incubators such as IIT Kanpur, T -Hub, KIIT TBI, Villgro, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, BITS Pilani to name a few to identify start-ups in the social sector.

To identify start-ups for the grants, the foremost criteria is the start-up should be working in the social sector. During the presentation, start-ups were evaluated on the following points:

a.   Sustainability of the idea

b.   Potential to scale up

c.   How does it benefit the society and environment

d.   Uniqueness of the Project

In the past, Smart-Up grants have been given to some unique ideas by start-ups working on innovative solutions in tackling climate change, waste management, skills training and enhancing livelihood. Previously, these grants have been given to startups based not just in Mumbai, Pune and Delhi, but also from Jamshedpur, Kalahandi in Odisha, Kochi, Tiruvanathapuram, Hyderabad to name a few.

Shares of the company declined Rs 8.5, or 0.7%, to settle at Rs 1,201.50. The total volume of shares traded was 119,546 at the BSE (Tuesday).