This is putting good use of religion!

The richest religious group of India - Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) is a network of influential industrialists, entrepreneurs, and professionals from the Jain community. It hosted an event last week in Mumbai, linking startups with its 150-member JITO Angel Network.

There were 7 startups which got close to Rs.19.40 crore of which one third amount went to two - daily commute mobile-tech firm Zophop and bike rental company Onn Bikes.

The objective of this meet is to build an ecosystem where every youth with a worthwhile business idea can implement it with the help of buddy entrepreneurs.

It is not that owners of the start-ups have to be Jains; anyone can seek fund but they do not invest in businesses which don’t abide by the Jain philosophy of ahimsa like non-veg, liquor,tobacco, leather ventures.

Apart from funding, JITO will provide mentorship and hand holding through its incubation hub which will guide the promoters in all, right from HR to legal and IT. They get access to workspace, training, marketing support, funding opportunities, as well as some free services and credit facilities.

Wish we could channelize all our religions with this positivity.