Empowering the dreams of students in rural Maharashtra: How VOPA helped Annapurna aspire to become a District Collector

Posted on March 16, 2024March 16, 2024 by Purvi

In Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district, the story of 15-year old Annapurna Jadhav unfolds—a tale of determination amid life’s challenges. Annapurna had lost her father due to severe health issues, leaving her mother to single-handedly support their family by working at a mat-making company.

Amidst the turmoil of pandemic-induced lockdowns, education for millions of students nationwide almost came to a standstill, particularly affecting children like Annapurna in India’s remote regions. Amidst this uncertainty, a beacon of hope emerged when VOPA, an ed-tech startup, visited her school and introduced their free solution called V-School – which aimed to democratise digital learning among underserved students in Maharashtra’s rural areas.

VOPA’s innovative super app, that hosts educational content in vernacular languages like Marathi, Urdu, and semi-English, was looking to transform traditional learning paradigms. For Annapurna, V-School transcended beyond an app; it became a catalyst for change. Its free, accessible resources, from videos to MCQs, offered a lifeline to tackle the structural challenges that in-person learning presented. Subjects like Maths and Science, once daunting, became comprehensible with V-School’s engaging modules and interactive features.

Instead of having to rely on expensive tuition which her family couldn’t afford, V-School gave her the flexibility to study at her own pace, propelling her to become the top user of the V-School App in the Taluka. Beyond assessing her learning levels, V-School equipped Annapurna with resources to bridge learning gaps, circumventing the limitations of traditional student assessments conducted by school teachers.

“The lessons on the V-School app helped me a lot in my board examinations. The MCQs were also helpful in scoring high marks,” Annapurna reflects, “I was able to secure 93.6% only because of V-School and my school teacher. I dream of becoming a District Collector someday. I know I can!”

With the integration of cutting-edge technology like the ChatGPT API, VOPA is addressing existing gaps in the ed-tech industry, particularly in providing contextualised learning platforms that offer affordable education to India’s underserved populations. As online learning becomes increasingly integral to India’s education system, VOPA’s solution endeavours to bridge these disparities and make learning more accessible and impactful for all.

Annapurna’s story underscores the transformative power of technology in empowering students to shape their dreams into reality!

Minimines joins the ACT For Environment portfolio

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Purvi

As the Indian EV market booms, there is significant demand for the domestic production of Lithium-ion batteries – as is evidenced by the government of India’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme which has a budgetary outlay of INR 18000 Crores for advanced battery chemistries. With industry players like Reliance and Ola Electric poised to set up their own Lithium-ion battery plants by 2025, there is a unique opportunity for recycled rare metals as production input which can reduce India’s dependence on the import of mined metals and prevent the depletion of scarce resources caused by mining. At the same time, there is also a need for sustainable recycling of end-of-life Li-ion batteries as India will need to recycle an estimated 150 kilo tons of Lithium-ion battery waste by 2030, whereas our current recycling capacity is less than 2000 tons a year.

Founded in 2021, Minimines is a clean-tech company whose innovative solution has the potential to address both ends of the value chain to enable true circularity. They have developed a unique low-cost and low-emissions hybrid hydrometallurgy process to recycle used Lithium-ion batteries and extract rare metals like Lithium, Manganese, Cobalt and Nickel, which can be used in the domestic production of fresh Lithium-ion batteries in India.

Currently, the most common battery recycling methods are pyrometallurgy and traditional solvent-based hydrometallurgy that face significant environmental challenges like high energy requirements, usage of large quantities of water, high carbon emissions and the need for expensive organic solvents that generate toxic waste. In stark contrast, Minimines’s proprietary technology is 75% more energy efficient and 95% more water efficient than prevalent recycling methods along with having the benefit of zero direct emissions. Furthermore, they are able to recover all the rare metals with more than 96% efficiency and at 99% purity – the efficacy of their solution has been validated at lab scale.

ACT for Environment’s support will enable Minimines to accelerate scale of production by transitioning from their current batch scale unit to a continuous process unit at 1.5 ton / month capacity. This will ensure mission-critical process efficiencies that will accelerate their go-to-market plan and drive adoption by facilitating commercial pilots within the battery manufacturing space.

We’re excited to be a partner to Minimines and support them in their goal of enabling sustainable battery recycling while contributing towards India’s journey of becoming self – reliant in the Lithium-ion battery manufacturing space!

ACT For Environment welcomes Solinas Integrity to its portfolio

Posted on February 28, 2024March 12, 2024 by Purvi

India faces a unique challenge in managing its sewer pipelines as it grapples with an ageing infrastructure that has been resulting in substantial economic and human losses. A staggering 79% of our water supply is rendered non-potable due to water losses during distribution or contamination. Traditionally, municipalities have employed manual labour for pipeline inspection and desludging – however a strategic shift in the government’s initiatives, marked by the prohibition of manual scavenging through the PEMSR Act 2013 and increased budgets for sanitation programs, signals a growing use-case for mechanical solutions that can replace the need for manual labour.

In 2018, Solinas Integrity emerged to address these challenges, embarking on a journey marked by the development and deployment of innovative solutions. Their flagship products, Endobot and HomoSEP, have proven instrumental in inspecting water lines and desludging manholes/septic tanks respectively and have gained significant traction with municipal corporations and O&Ms alike.

Solinas now aspires to develop a unique robotic solution that can enable both inspection and cleaning of sewer lines >600mm. Equipped with the same PTZ camera and sonar sensor as the Endobot, the Rehabilitation Bot (R-Bot) will also have an agitator and suction system that can not only diagnose leaks and blockages in sewer pipes but also efficiently de-sludge and remove contaminants. Once deployed, it has the potential to be 5x more efficient and 3.5x more cost-effective than manual cleaning methods.

Furthermore, the R-Bot will also be integrated with Swasth, their proprietary AI platform, to facilitate real-time predictive analytics on defects, blockages and leaks along with pipeline health through an AI integration in the robot sensor.

ACT for Environment’s grant support will play a catalytic role in accelerating the development and deployment of the R-Bot with municipalities and O&M players alike. We are thrilled to collaborate with them on their mission to revolutionise WaSH management in India, aiming to reduce water losses, contamination, sewer blockages, and eliminate manual scavenging.

ACT is looking for social entrepreneurs who are solving for India’s energy efficiency challenges

Posted on February 2, 2024February 28, 2024 by Purvi

India is the third-largest consumer of energy in the world and will account for 25% of the growth in global energy demand from 2019 to 2040. Propelled by rapid urbanisation and industrialization, energy consumption in India has experienced a twofold increase since 2000 and projections indicate a 5% annual growth until 2040. However, regional disparities in energy consumption persist, with variations across states and among rural and urban areas. The reliance of the economy on the energy sector, coupled with escalating demand, has positioned the energy landscape as a critical focus area for India’s net zero ambitions.

India’s energy consumption can be categorised into five key areas, each playing a pivotal role in shaping overall usage: power generation, industrial production & processes, transportation, building usage and agriculture usage. Even though power generation and industrial usage constitute the bulk of energy consumption, transport related energy demand has grown 3.5 times and demand in buildings has grown by 40% since 2000. Although agriculture is relatively the smallest consumer of energy, electricity consumed in agriculture can go up to 50% of total consumption in some states.

But while India’s increasing energy imports to meet this surge in demand have spurred a concerted effort towards the expansion of renewable energy sources, we are facing formidable challenges:

High Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Losses: The prevalence of significant T&D losses hampers the ability of distribution companies (DisComs) to make bold and decisive investments in renewables. Addressing these losses is crucial to creating an environment conducive to renewable energy adoption.

Low Energy Storage Capacity: The growth of renewable energy has outpaced advancements in energy storage technology. The lack of commensurate progress in storage capabilities poses a bottleneck to the seamless integration of renewables into the energy grid. A focused approach is needed to accelerate the development of efficient energy storage solutions.

Recycling and Reuse Applications: While renewable energy sources have proliferated, there is a concurrent need to enhance efforts in recycling and reusing associated components. A holistic approach to sustainable practices should encompass not only energy production but also the management of materials involved in the renewable energy lifecycle.

What We’re Looking For

ACT For Environment will now also be looking at energy transition as a key area of investment focus and we’re looking to prioritise 3 pivotal spheres to help catalyse an outsized climate impact at scale:

Waste to energy / alternative fuels; given intermittency and wastage issues with renewables
Battery recycling & new battery chemistries; given that the current market dominated by lithium ion batteries which which have large environment & human costs
Distributed renewable energy (DRE); given the need to enable access to energy and livelihoods for rural India
Energy efficiency solutions for businesses; given that industrial energy consumption is the highest

We’ll also be looking to strengthen these innovations through a collaborative approach, by uniting the private sector, public institutions, and specialised research and policy partners in a collective effort to drive lasting impact.

If you’re a social entrepreneur working on an innovative energy solution in any of the above areas, submit your grant application here!

ACT For Health renews its support to Periwinkle Technologies

Posted on January 11, 2024February 28, 2024 by Purvi

Cervical cancer is a critical public health issue in India, which has one of the world’s highest incidence rates and ranking as the second-most common cancer affecting women in the country. It leads to over 67,000 deaths annually, claiming a woman’s life every 8 minutes. Limited access to screening, a shortage of healthcare resources, and a lack of awareness regarding preventive measures, particularly among women from marginalised communities, are some of the factors leading to this alarming situation.

Recognising the urgency of addressing this issue, ACT For Health has been supporting Periwinkle Technologies, a medtech startup that is on a mission to make India cervical cancer-free. Their innovative solution, the Smart Scope® CX, is an AI-powered handheld point-of-care digital device that enables health workers to detect cervical cancer at an early stage. This device serves as a single-visit alternative to traditional methods like pap smear and colposcopy, which are fraught with issues such as high dependence on trained professionals, cost-intensive infrastructure requirements, and lengthy turnaround times.

In stark contrast, the Smart Scope® CX efficiently captures images of the cervix and eliminates the need for electricity, space, or additional infrastructure. Its built-in AI component analyses these images to deliver results within 10-15 minutes and significantly reduces the dependence on trained professionals. The device can be easily used by healthcare workers at the last mile and allows for remote triaging of the results by experts. The Smart Scope® CX enables early detection of cervical cancer, reducing the morbidity and high mortality caused by late-stage diagnosis and propels significant technological advancements in addressing critical gaps in public health systems.

Over the last year, Periwinkle has demonstrated the efficacy of its solution by successfully screening over 1500 women in Chattisgarh. These early pilots helped validate the effectiveness of Periwinkle’s solution and provided learnings on how this can be deployed in public health settings.

ACT For Health is excited to renew its support for Periwinkle through a follow-on scale-up grant. The aim is to build on the learnings from earlier pilots by conducting on-ground cervical cancer screening in Primary Health Centres (PHCs) across both rural and urban settings across multiple states in India. The objective is to showcase the benefits of using Periwinkle’s Smart Scope® CX device in public health settings, esp. PHCs, and achieve scalability within the public health system. This grant will play a pivotal role in expanding Periwinkle’s deployments in Maharashtra, Manipur, and Jharkhand in collaboration with ACT For Health’s implementation partners to unlock state-wide takeup within the public health system.