NEPALESE ENTREPRENEURS COME TO AMSTERDAM FOR 2016 ROCKSTART IMPACT DEMO DAY

AMSTERDAM – On April 21, 2016, 10 Nepalese entrepreneurs will be in Amsterdam to present their progress to investors and partners alike in the 2nd annual Rockstart Impact Demo Day. The 10 companies, selected from over 200 applications were chosen for their projects focusing on rebuilding Nepal and creating jobs after the devastating earthquake of April 2015. The first group of Rockstart Impact graduates (2015) secured funding for 80% of their participants and raised over 1.8 m euros in funding.

Demo Day is the final milestone at the end of a 100-day program that is designed to support Nepali entrepreneurs in growing their companies and raising investment. Rockstart Impact includes intense mentoring, expert-based coaching, presentation training, investor meetings and access to Rockstart’s unique network of mentors and experts in the Netherlands and Nepal as well as growth capital. Rockstart works in collaboration with One to Watch, an asset management company in Nepal.

Willem Grimmink, founder of One to Watch shares, ‘‘Rockstart Impact aspires to introduce Nepali companies to a pool of international investors to give them an idea about the working environment and to facilitate the process of making an investment deal, either directly or through the Nepal Impact Investment Club.”

Marja Rujgrok and Edmond Hilhorst, co-founders of the Nepal Impact Investment Club (NIIC) along with One to Watch, invest in Nepalese businesses that are helping rebuild Nepal after 2015’s earthquake. NIIC is a global multiple investor network with capital structured in the Netherlands and is focused solely on Nepal. The fund has already made three investments in Nepali businesses in 2015. “We visited companies and gave workshops for the Nepalese entrepreneurs chosen by Rockstart Impact. It’s been incredibly enriching and inspiring to experience the energy with which young Nepali entrepreneurs are rebuilding their country. They build businesses from scratch, create jobs and make a profit,” says Rujgrok. Today, ten Dutch investors have already put one million euros into the fund.

Startup Overview:

aQysta – To address the need of cost-effective water pumping solution for irrigation, aQysta developed the innovative hydropower pump – the Barsha Pump. The Barsha Pump utilizes energy from the flow of rivers and canals to pump water. It does not require any fuel or electricity for operation. Thus, it neither involves operating expenses nor does it emit any polluting greenhouse gases. The Barsha Pump is a reliable and meticulous design solving one of the most obvious problems of farmers in Nepal.

Bajra Brick & Tile Industries – Bajra Brick & Tile Industries aims to produce good quality and cost efficient construction products with modern, environment friendly technology and local materials to satisfy its customers. The main products of this industry are hollow concrete blocks, concrete bricks, interlocking blocks and finishing interlocking blocks. The company aims to contribute towards quicker reconstruction with the substitution of traditional bricks by their concrete blocks, bricks and tiles.

Cotton Mill – Cotton Mill manufactures and sells wide range of unique, hand-printed decorative and daily home textiles. Cotton Mill’s products are customized to meet the needs of their individual as well as corporate customers such as boutique hotels. Hand-printing is a traditional process, but it is also a great method as it requires no electricity and creates employment opportunities.

FICUS Biotech – FICUS Biotech is an agribusiness company established by Biotechnologists. The company is dedicated to addressing and solving the problem of availability of good quality plants through Plant Tissue Culture Technology. The major feature of the company is constant research done by the professional team in order to produce better plants every year. Being in an agro-forestry sector, the company aims to spread out the products to farmers and areas untouched by modern development.

Kalpavriksha Greater Goods – KGG is a women-led social enterprise that sells high quality small solar lights and clean technology. The enterprise distributes clean technology to last mile consumers through women’s entrepreneurial network. Partnered with Empower Generation, the enterprise trains and supports women from rural areas across the country to distribute clean solution in their communities.

Karkhana – Karkhana is an education company and makerspace. Its programs are designed to stimulate creativity, critical thinking, risk taking and developing skills necessary for innovation. Karkhana is run by a team of technologists turned educators, thus bringing a strong understanding of core skills needed in this tech-infused world. Karkhana is active in the global maker and education communities.

Luniva Tech – Luniva Tech is an emerging leader in software and application development in Nepal with their primary focus in the health sector. Luniva Care is a health care tool and system that provides easy access to medical record of the patient with the progress status through graphical view. The system not only helps to automate the pathology labs but also track the medical history of patients digitally.
R & D Innovative Solution – Incorporated in 2010, R&D has been working in the agriculture sector in the fields of 3Cs -Communication, Consulting and Coordination. The company works as one stop solution for those involved in the agricultural sector by empowering farming community through communication, consulting services and market linkage. The company has 10 Green Mart outlets across the valley that sell organic fresh fruits and vegetables every day.

Value Innovations – Value Innovations is focused in providing appropriate technology and business consulting services for micro and small enterprises. Counting on the experience of designing and manufacturing electrical drying system, the firm is determined to develop appropriate technologies to assist the small businesses for value addition in their products. They custom design machines for different crops and their prime focus is on high cash crops.

Waste Service – Providing waste disposal for hospitals – Waste Service is a social enterprise established with the vision of providing waste disposal and management solutions for hospitals in Nepal, which also helps to eliminate medical waste and control the spread of infectious diseases. It aims to build and operate city based common waste treatment facilities across the country. The focus is placed on proper segregation, collection, transportation, treatment methodology.

Rockstart Impact would like to thank our partners: CCO Cooperation, Oxfam, The DOEN Foundation and Triodos.

For more information about Rockstart Impact, view our infographic.

About Rockstart Impact
Rockstart Impact is a 100-day program designed to help entrepreneurs with enormous potential in growing their companies and raising investment. The 10 participating companies receive intensive coaching from local and international professionals dedicated to provide hands-on support and networking opportunities. This is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to scale up their business as the program’s network includes more than two hundred local and international investors and over forty mentors.

About One to Watch
One to Watch is an asset management fund based in Nepal. In 2014, One to Watch, and Rockstart initiated a 100-days accelerator program called Rockstart Impact in Nepal. Based on Rockstart’s successful business acceleration principles, Rocktstart Impact is designed to help Nepali entrepreneurs with enormous potential in grow their companies and raise investment.