Bits’n’bytes: Know about startup, business news in Pune

IIT Madras Incubation Cell has partnered with NativeLead Foundation, an angel-driven ecosystem, empowering young minds to become innovators and entrepreneurs

Huntsman commissions 180 KW rooftop solar facility at Chakan

Prolance, a technology-enabled cloud manufacturing platform for Interior design companies, has raised ₹16 crore in a Pre-Series A round led by Foundamental and Axilor. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Huntsman India, a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals, commissioned a 180 kilowatts (KW) rooftop solar facility at its polyurethanes manufacturing plant in Chakan, Pune. The solar facility is expected to generate 3,00,000 kilowatt hours of power annually, about 60 per cent of the plant’s total energy requirement. The system is connected with the state-government-run power grid via net metering, which ensures a balanced load and also feeds surplus power back into the grid. A 180 KW solar power plant at Huntsman’sChakan site will be used to meet almost the entire day’s power requirements. The system will be on net metering together with grid power. The net metering mechanism ensures that the load is balanced, and any surplus power can be fed back into the grid.

DS Group launches first NFT titled ‘A Dream in a Million Metaphors’

The DS Group (Dharampal Satyapal Group) launched its first non-fungible token (NFT) honouring its founders Lala Dharampal and Satyapal ‘Sugandhi’. This NFT captures the nucleus of the foundation and thereby reveals the larger portrait of the founders. Memorabilia of tribute to the founding fathers, this distinct mosaic uses 93 images, each depicting an iota of the voyage the founders embarked upon. The NFT is titled ‘A Dream in a Million Metaphors’. The Group has leveraged Web 3.0 to bring to life the historical moments in its expanse via an experiential microsite which portrays the non-fungible story of the Group.

Prolance raises ₹16 crore in Pre-series A Round

The Whole Truth Foods (TWT) introduces clean-label milk chocolates

The Whole Truth Foods (TWT) is launching its customary 100 per cent clean label offering in its largest category yet: milk chocolates. Shashank Mehta, founder and chief executive officer (CEO), The Whole Truth Foods, said, “Without knowing how to choose healthy, we are constantly told to eat healthy foods and products. We see individuals who make an effort to stick to their diet but ultimately indulge in milk chocolate or chocolate that has unhealthy components. Witnessing the barometer of consumption, we have decided to introduce the newer range of milk chocolate.” TWT had launched 100 per cent clean label dark chocolates, made with as little as two ingredients – cocoa and dates – in April. A separate bean-to-bar chocolate factory was set up for dark chocolates and the same is now being used for milk chocolates, which is the preferred form of chocolate for 93 per cent of the country.

IIT Madras Incubation Cell partners with NativeLead Foundation

IIT Madras Incubation Cell has partnered with NativeLead Foundation, an angel-driven ecosystem, empowering young minds to become innovators and entrepreneurs. The partnership aims to identify, nurture and help scale startups from Institutes, Incubators, particularly in tier 2/3/4 cities – local entrepreneurs, address local challenges and build solutions for wider impact. The collaboration also ties into IITMIC’s 10X initiative of Accelerated Incubation, geared towards achieving an ambitious 1000 incubations by 2030, through empowering young emerging entrepreneurs from India’s rural pockets. IITMIC and NativeLead will jointly leverage their network to provide value-added support including mentorship, market access, training for strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems and growth of incubated startups at IITMIC and its partner institutes/incubators across the state.