US-based social media platform Facebook has invested a total of $1.2m in 12 India-based startups across four categories – farmers, women, students and migrants – Tech in Asia has reported.
The initiative, named Innovation Challenge, follows Facebook’s failed attempt at bringing its Internet.org programme to India.
Internet.org is meant to give users who currently are not connected to the internet free access to selected websites. It was dropped in India following criticism that it contravened net neutrality, the principle that all content on the internet must be equally accessible.
Facebook renamed the programme Free Basics in India last month, and has funded startups developing apps for the offering. In each of the four categories, the company awarded one $250,000 Innovation Challenge award and two $25,000 Impact awards.
The winners of the Innovation Challenge awards include Ekutir, which enables farmers to analyse soil and gain an insight into crops, soil type and seed selection as well as seed preparation, and MySangham, a tool to help women acquire new skills through crowdsourced lessons.
BodhaGuru, an educational service that fosters creative thinking through storytelling, and Helper4U, a jobseeking platform aimed at semi-skilled migrants, also took home $250,000 each.
Impact award winners included social marketplace Farmily, soil analytics provider Farmalytics, paediatrics marketplace Embrace Angel, artisan crafts online store Rang de Habba, gamified learning tool Fundementor and LetsIntern, a platform for students to find internships.
Mygram, a text message-based service that provides migrants with access to an email and informs them of new messages through SMS, and MHS City Labs, which offers tutorials to workers in the low-cost construction sector, also won Impact awards.