Wadhwani Foundation launches 'Sahayata' initiative in response to Covid 19 crisis

The Wadhwani Foundation (WF) announced the Sahayata Initiative to help accelerate innovation in public health technology in India, will provide innovative grants to upt0 50 start-ups and early-stage companies. The Wadhwani Foundation is a leading non-profit Foundation serving India and other developing countries with the mission of accelerating job creation through large scale initiatives in entrepreneurship, SME growth, and skilling.

Wadhwani Foundation has committed INR 200 Crore and is building an ecosystem of partners, including government ministries and agencies, banks, and consulting firms, to help operationalize this large and complex initiative. The Sahayata Initiative consists of three programs: the Sahayata Business Stability program, the Sahayata COVID-19 Skilling program, and the Sahayata Public Health Innovation program. The Foundation built all three Sahayata programs over the last 90 days. Rapid deployment will begin in August 2020. 

Sahayata Public Health Innovation Program: The COVID-19 crisis has shown how unprepared countries are in dealing with a pandemic. Most countries underinvest in public health infrastructure, and this hobbles rapid response in a crisis. An enormous opportunity for innovation in public health exists, especially using today's new digital technologies, including telemedicine, real-time diagnostics and testing, and patient monitoring and care. Much of this necessary innovation will come from start-ups and early-stage companies that struggle to find sufficient venture capital to achieve their mission. The Sahayata Public Health Innovation program will provide innovation grants or investments to up to 50 start-ups and early-stage companies to help accelerate innovation in public health technology in India. Each award will be between INR 25 lakhs to INR 1 Crore. The Wadhwani Foundation has already made several direct and indirect grants; the number of candidate companies for such grants and investments is growing rapidly.

Sahayata Program for Other Countries: Wadhwani Foundation delivers on its global mission through teams in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, with a focus on Mexico and Brazil, all of which have been severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Wadhwani Foundation will launch Sahayata in Mexico in August 2020, in partnership with states, including Mexico City, Jalisco, Chihuahua and Yucatan, and major consulting firms, including EY, KPMG, DELOITTE, Santander, GCG, CCMX, CAREINTRA, CONCAMIN, KONFIO, Fondeo Directo, FIDEAPECH and IYEM. Wadhwani Foundation plans to expand Sahayata to Brazil early in 2021 and in Africa and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh) in mid-2021. 

For more details on the Sahayata Initiative, please visit: https://sahayata.wfglobal.org