Honeywell India boosts innovation by funding Deep science startups through partnership with IISC

Mumbai: Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation (HHSIF), the philanthropic arm of Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON), in partnership with Foundation for Science, Innovation and Development (FSID), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), renowned for its cutting-edge deep sciences research, has extended research and financial support to 37 Indian start-ups, extending capital worth INR 9 crores over the last four years. With intensive focus on agri-tech, clean-tech, health-tech and green-tech, Honeywell has extended funding worth INR 2.4 crores in FY23-24 to 8 start-ups and 5 entrepreneurship-in-residence programs (EIRs), and further plans to on-board 10 new start-ups in the current fiscal.

Through this collaboration, Honeywell provides seed funding and essential research support to start-ups in the realm of deep science focusing on addressing environmental, agricultural and health challenges. Over the years, the synergy between Honeywell and IISc has been highly sought after by emerging start-ups as the partnership not only offers them seed capital, but also extends access to state-of-the-art facilities, connect with industry stakeholders & government bodies, global network of High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs), Angels, Venture Capitalists (VCs) as well as Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India.

In FY23-24, Honeywell and IISc’s collaborative benefits were extended to health/med-tech companies like  Papyrus Diagnostics Private Limited, Akumen Artificial Intelligence, Hoyasan Labs Pvt Ltd, Cellsion Technologies Pvt Ltd and Easescan MedTech Private Limited; and to agri-tech companies like Kaiza Tech and Green Collar Agritech; as well clean-tech start-up Mushloop Pvt Ltd.

“Honeywell has been at the forefront of automation, digitization and sustainability over many decades. Our long standing partnership with IISc is a testament to our commitment to bolstering local innovation and empowering emerging businesses in India. Our core focus is not just to extend financial support but also to encourage deep science/tech research which fuels the innovative prowess of these businesses. Over the past 4 years, we have worked with over 40 start-ups and will be on-boarding another 10 in the upcoming financial year. Together, with IISc, we are cultivating a fertile ecosystem for these companies, making a tangible impact on society”, said Mr. Ashish Modi, President, Honeywell India.

Prof B Gurumoorthy, Director of FSID and Professor at IISc has said that “Deep Science start-ups are characterized by long gestation periods, require significant upfront capital and access to world class labs and sophisticated tools to take their innovation from lab to market. Honeywell has been an outstanding partner for us in this journey providing the much-needed capital and intellectual support to our entrepreneurs in furthering their journey. Jamsetji Tata, remarked that “what advances a nation or a community is to lift up the best and the most gifted, so as to make them of the greatest service to the country.” The CSR support from Honeywell helps raise the ceiling up for Deep Science start-ups.

This year’s start-ups range from 8 to 10 and around 3-5 entrepreneurship-in-residence programs will be supported. 

An exemplary start-up supported by Honeywell and IISc is ‘AI Highway,’ offering cost-effective cardiac disease screening systems leveraging advanced signal processing and AI capabilities that can screen, detect and predict cardio-respiratory disorders. This innovation holds the potential to alleviate the burden on cardiologists and address the significant shortage of professionals in India, estimated at over 84,000. Additionally, support to OpenWater.in, a start-up that provides wastewater treatment, used the grant to design and deploy a 25000 litres/day system at Mavallipura, a village about 20kms north of Bengaluru city. The quality of groundwater here is extremely poor due to solid waste on the landfill close to the village that led to contamination of the water sources. OpenWater has deployed a solution that treats contamination in ground water.

Dfine Bio Innovations Pvt ltd is a Medtech start-up supported by Honeywell grant. The start-up has developed an indigenously built hemostatis system named FibriTimer Zeta-1 (a first by any Indian Company).  Zeta – 1 uses the patented dual technology and helps clinicians in understanding the defects in humans for bleeding and thrombosis events. Zeta 1 is designed for professional use in clinical laboratory setup. The product is ISO certified and approved by CDSCO and is a life-saving device. The product is priced significantly below available products in the market.