P&G India announces ₹200 Crore Fund to foster innovative technology via collaboration

Mumbai, November 01, 2022: Procter & Gamble (P&G) India has announced a ₹200 Cr ‘P&G Technovate Fund’ aimed at solving business challenges by fostering innovation and leveraging innovative technology in collaboration with existing and new external suppliers.

According to the P&G officials, the new fund is part of P&G India’s ‘vGrow’ program which focuses on identifying and collaborating with start-ups, small businesses, individuals, and large organizations offering innovative industry-leading business solutions.

vGrow is P&G’s first-of-its-kind platform to identify and collaborate with businesses and individuals offering industry-leading solutions. Through this platform, P&G engages with over 2300 suppliers including start-ups, small businesses, and large organizations from a wide range of industries and services - from creative agencies to technology partners to material suppliers.

With the new fund announcement, the Company also launched the fifth edition of ‘P&G vGrow External Business Partner Summit,’ being held on November 1-2, 2022. The Summit offers a platform to existing and new suppliers to pitch their solutions to P&G India’s leadership team.

Launching the initiative, LV Vaidyanathan, CEO, P&G India Subcontinent said, “Driving consistent innovation and evolving constantly with time have been key strengths for us at P&G for the last 185 years. Five years ago, we launched ‘vGrow’ – with the vision to create a platform to foster collaboration and partnerships with external partners and suppliers, to solve business challenges and provide a breeding ground to emerging startups across the country. Over the years, we have committed spends of more than ₹1300 Crore in business solutions through this platform. We strongly believe that by forging partnerships with new-age, innovative and sustainable solutions, we have been able to create and deliver superior value for our consumers, customers, partners, and communities alike.”

He added that ‘P&G Technovate Fund’ has been set up to collaborate with external partners who understand and specialize in technology, are operating with a digital-first mindset, and are constantly bringing innovation in the industry.

To come up with innovative solutions via external business partnerships, P&G has its online platform ‘P&G Hackathon’, which connects external business partners with innovative solutions to the company’s needs, thereby creating a collaborative ecosystem.