With the coronavirus crisis restricting most of people indoors, Startups in J&K are working tirelessly to find solutions to ever-growing problems.Many Startups incubated in Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) and funded under the J&K Government's Startup policy are proving to be a glimmer of hope.This crisis has caused a disruption in the economy and the businesses around the country are reorienting their strategies in these challenging times, and the Startups supported by JKEDI are in no way behind.Abid Rashid and Sheikh Samiullah are co-owners of Fastbeetle, a logistics company working round the clock in this time of crisis.Current lockdown provided an opportunity for them as people turned to the internet and to meet their logistic needs locally."We used to cater to the whole valley, but due to restrictions are limited to the municipal limits of Srinagar. We have tied up with various essential/non-essential entities for home delivery of products so that people stay at home," said the founders of the company.J&K's first farm produce supply chain company, e-fruitmandi, has overcome this challenge by rethinking its strategy and innovative solutions.
They have successfully connected farmers, who were already in distress, with buyers. The farmers could not sell their produce due to various logistic concerns, but e-fruitmandi connected them with local buyers."We mainly dealt with apple growers, but now we have expanded, and connected strawberry and cherry farmers too, and are helping them to sell their produce locally," said Ubair Shah, founder, efruitmandi.Jammu based entrepreneur and founder of Genetico Research and Diagnostics, Arjun Gupta, is working to mitigate the problems of people with rare diseases. Genetico is developing software and artificial intelligence-based technology to connect regional specialists like pediatricians with relevant rare disease experts across the country through the Tele-Genetics platform.This will have a direct impact on reducing the diagnostic time and improving care for such patients.This startup can have a significant impact on the health care system of J&K, especially in the post-Covid-19 phase."We are fortunate that JKEDI, BIRAC, and IIT Mandi took notice of Genetico and supported our efforts," said Arjun Gupta, founder of the company.These companies are being incubated in the Centre of Innovation Incubation and Business Modelling (CIIBM), a specialized vertical of Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI)."We are proud of our Startups and will facilitate their journey at every stage. We need to innovate and solve our society's problems," said GM Dar, Director, JKEDI. These companies have been funded by the 2018 Startup Policy of the J&K Government.