“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has” - Margaret Mead
World is changing for the better. The era of Environmental preservation is here. There is increased focus on climate tech and circular economy. Climate tech funding is expected to grow 10x in the next decade.
Bala Kamalam Environmental Fund is setup with an aim to fund professor and student led projects in the climate tech space. We currently fund projects located in India.
VISION
Awareness creation on Climate related topics among College students in India
Solution creation through funded student projects in the space of Climate Change
Identify your idea
Form your team
Minimum 3 members recommended
Multi-disciplinary recommended
At least one advisor (professor or industry expert)
Register your team
Prepare your Submission (Keynote or Power point) - Sample Project Template
Offline review of submissions by expert panel
Projects ranked based on
Problem definition clarity
Technical strength
Impact scale
Market comparison
Secondary benefits of proposed solution
Upto 5 finalist identified and informed
Finalists present in front of panel of experts (Virtual)
Answer questions from panel about submission
Ask questions to the fund managers and panel members
Winners announced
Up to INR 4 Lakhs awarded across all winners for prototyping their ideas
Mentorship provided during prototyping phase
Successful prototypes will be connected with other funds to enable commercialization
Themes
Food & Agri
Renewable Energy
Buildings
Vehicles
Carbon Capture
Waste Recycling
Projects in the all of the sectors identified above are encouraged to apply to the fund
We spotlight a theme every couple of years based on need for innovation and funding in that space. This is to encourage students to think and submit project in this area. “Spotlight Theme” for this year is “Food, Agriculture and Land use”
Projects outside the above themes but in the Climate wheelbase may be considered subject to the Fund panel’s discretion
Who can apply? We expect you to generate a prototype if you are funded, so from our decision making (Feb 1) you need to have enough time to generate your prototype. Anyone who can do that, is welcome to apply
Climate Change - Fundamentals
Timeline
Signup Deadline
Sep 15
Projects Submission
Nov 3
Finalist Selected
Dec 22
Final Presentation
Jan 18
Winners Award
Feb 1
Fund Panel
Koussalya Balasubramanian, Founder & Mentor
Koussalya is a Senior Engineering Manager at Apple with a passion for using technology to protect our planet. She started the Bala Kamalam Fund with the goal of empowering more young minds towards environmental preservation.
Dr. Balaji Sampathnarayanan, Mentor & Advisor
Dr. Balaji is a Controls engineer turned Sustainability enthusiast, working at Cummins. He was the lead of Planet 2050 Incubator Team at Cummins and is currently leading Cummins Meritor Sustainability Strategy.
India Partners
Dr. G. S. Mahalakshmi, Advisor
Dr. Mahalakshmi is the Director of Center for Entrepreneurship Development (CED), College of Engineering Guindy. Under her leadership, CED runs branches in several colleges in Tamil Nadu. She and her team encourage and aid students in their entrepreneurial journey.
Past Fund Mentors & Judges
Dr. Prakash Jagadeesan, Mentor & Advisor
Dr. Jagadeesan is currently the Dean of Madras Institute of Technology. His areas of research interest are Process Data Analytics, Applied Machine Learning, and State & Parameter Estimation.
Dr. Poornima Parameswaran, 2023 Judge
Dr. Poornima cofounded Trace Genomics. Trace Genomics has developed the first analytics engine that learns as it maps the living soil - innovating at the intersect of soil science, genomics and machine learning to advance agriculture. She holds a Ph.D in Microbiology and Immunology from Stanford University.
A J Balasubramanian, 2023 Judge
Entrepreneurial General Manager with Engineering / IT Background. He mentors several young entrepreneurs in South India. He also sits on the boards of mentors at Anna Incubator.
Dr. Nikit Abhyankar, Mentor & Advisor - 2022 Batch
Dr. Abhyankar is a Senior Scientist at the Center for Environmental Public Policy of the University of California, Berkley. He regularly advises legislators and regulators around the world in designing clean energy policies.
Dr. Santhosh Shankar, Mentor & Advisor - 2022 Batch
Dr. Santhosh is a Strategy Advisor of Environmental Markets at Shell Energy. He led the foundation of Shell’s Direct Air Carbon Capture Program and focuses on using technology to reduce carbon output across the planet.