GreenJams was declared winner of the Swacchata Startup Challenge 2022 organised by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in collaboration with Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
GreenJams was felicitated by Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India, Roopa Mishra, Joint Secretary and National Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission (MoHUA), and Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. As winners, GreenJams will receive INR 25 lakh (EUR 30,000) from MoHUA-AFD, follow-on funding support from Villgro, AWS promotional credits up to $100,000 USD and one-year long personalised business support!
Founded by Tarun Jami and Varun Jami, GreenJams is solving for the 45% share of the built environment in global carbon emissions by making carbon-negative and thermally insulating building materials. The company’s flagship product, Agrocrete®, is a carbon-negative building material made using crop residues such as paddy straw, cotton stalks, bagasse, etc., and non-toxic by-products of steel and power plants. Agrocrete® is currently available in the form of hollow blocks, which replace conventional bricks and blocks for up to 50% lower costs and 3.5x higher thermal insulation.
“We have a lofty vision – remove 10% of global carbon emissions. We are convinced, with Agrocrete®, we have a shot at reversing climate change. Emerging as the Top 10 winners of the Swachhata Startup Challenge has only reinforced our conviction that India will become the world leader of climate change mitigation. With our earnest contributions, we are 100% sure that we will put Vizag and India on the global map.”
–Tarun Jami, Founder & CEO, GreenJams
Agrocrete® and Founder of GreenJams, Tarun Jami at the Swachhata Startup Conclave,
held at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi on 20th September 2022.
“We are on a mission to maximize value to all our stakeholders, and this is a significant achievement in our journey. We are proud to be from Visakhapatnam and very excited to also inform that we shall be launching an Agrocrete® blocks manufacturing unit at Visakhapatnam in the first week of October.”
–Varun Jami, Co-Founder, GreenJams
The Swachhata Startup Challenge received an overwhelming response with a diverse application pool of 244 applications from 23 States and Union Territories, including 100 women-led startups. GreenJams has brought laurels to our City of Destiny, Visakhapatnam.
About GreenJams
GreenJams is bringing high-quality, thermally insulating and carbon-negative building materials to the market, helping the construction industry lower its carbon footprint, save costs, and benefit socio-economically marginalized communities. Backed by almost half a decade of research and technological innovation, GreenJams is changing how building materials are manufactured and reversing climate change. Today, they’re paving the way for the future built environment to become carbon-neutral and solving the acutely impacted public health through the prevention of crop residue burning. Recognizing their impact, GreenJams was listed on Forbes Asia’s ‘30 Under 30’. They are supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. The company is headquartered at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. Learn more at www.greenjams.org, and follow on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
About Swachhata Startup Challenge
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in collaboration with Agence Française de Développement (AFD) launched the Swachhata Startup Challenge to support 10 startups working at the nexus of technology and social innovation to solve India’s waste management challenges.
The Swachhata Startup Challenge seeks to create a conducive environment and nurture impactful startups creating solutions at the nexus of social innovation and technology. Furthermore, it provides financial, capacity building and GTM support to the startups to reinforce India’s waste management ecosystem and catalyze digital transformation, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 (SBM-U 2.0).
About AFD
Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) Group is a public financial institution that funds, supports and accelerates transitions towards a more just and sustainable world. As a French overseas aid platform for sustainable development and investment, we and our partners create shared solutions, with and for the people of the global South. AFD is working on over 4,000 projects in 115 countries where it strives to promote health, education and gender equality, and to protect common resources with a focus on peace, biodiversity and a stable climate. A partner of India since 2008, AFD works with Indian authorities to promote green and inclusive growth.
About Villgro
Villgro is India’s foremost and one of the world’s largest social enterprise incubators. Established in 2001, Villgro’s mission is to make innovative, impactful businesses succeed in Health, Agribusiness, and Climate Action. Since 2001, Villgro has supported 340 social enterprises that have raised over INR 4.28 billion in investments, created 5646 jobs and impacted over 20.8 million lives. Villgro was awarded the Top Incubator Award by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (GoI) in 2020 and the DivHERsity awards in 2022.
