How Indian startups are using digital technology to be a positive force for society
India鈥檚 start-up ecosystem is filled with innovative solutions and advanced technologies which have an important role to play in helping to address societal challenges.
Take for example 鈥� a start-up that developed an app to help residents connect to their local scrap shops 鈥� known locally as 鈥楰abadiwallas鈥� 鈥� to sell the recyclable waste they collect.
Founded by a data scientist Siddharth Hande, the startup works to leverage the power of these 鈥榮crap shops鈥� by integrating them into the formal waste management system of the city. Speaking about the challenge that inspired his startup, Siddharth explains, 鈥淭hrough all my beach cleanups, I found that you could optimise the informal supply chain, and creating accurate baselines of who they are and where they work was the starting point." He believes that digitisation can be a key enabler for waste pickers. Digitalisation can help integrating the formal and informal waste management process, enabling traceability across stakeholders in the supply chain.
The Shell GameChanger team helps Kabadiwalla Connect to advance the research, development, and commercialisation of of their technology. Shell GameChanger works with start-ups on unproven early-stage ideas that have the potential to impact the future of energy. The aim is to de-risk technology that can have a significant impact on the energy industry and potentially Shell businesses.
Siddharth and his team value the support of Shell, especially the focus on health and safety. Today, waste pickers and people working in scrap shops often have to choose between their health and safety or their livelihood. But Kabadiwalla Connect is trying to change that . "As a social enterprise, we have a chance to leverage the circular economy to improve the lives of waste pickers and small scrap shops. It is really rewarding work. I think in another decade, if we create these ecosystems that are recycling everything that will be mission accomplished," he says.
The GameChanger team provides support, expertise, and seed funding in a wide variety of areas to develop early-stage energy transition, digital and energy solutions, while the start-ups keep the independence to make their own decisions.
Kabadiwalla Connect鈥檚 technology, once it reaches its full potential, could help support Shell in meeting its obligation under the Indian Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Law. EPR holds manufacturers accountable for managing post-consumer waste as well as the complete lifecycle of their products. For example, the technology could support the Shell lubricant recycling programme, a collaborative sustainability project that enables customers and partners to participate in responsible plastic waste management and recycling.
In Shell, technology leaders recognise that the best innovation will most likely come from people who are closer to the problem, as in the case of Kabadiwalla Connect. And so, the question that arises here is that how companies like Shell can help unleash that potential within a framework which is guided to get to a point where things are deployed into production for driving a greater impact.
Sharing his experience of working closely with startups in India, Sreenivas Raghavendran, a Commercial Partnerships Manager at Shell GameChanger, says, 鈥淭hey are extremely enterprising. What is interesting to note is that they don't necessarily belong to tech hubs from Indian metro cities. All these founders and innovators bring energy, positivity, authenticity, and seriousness to solve challenges; it is not just their will, but also their willingness to solve the problem that is impressive.鈥�
