GITAM (Deemed to be) University’s entrepreneurship & innovation cell, Venture Development Centre (VDC) has signed an MoU with iTIC Incubator at IIT Hyderabad to support 75 innovators. iTIC Incubator at IIT Hyderabad, in collaboration with Greenko Group has launched a new program called Bold & Unique Idea Led Development (BUILD). The program was launched at IIT Hyderabad by Dr Anil Kumar, MD and CEO, Greenko Group and Prof B S Murty, Director, IIT Hyderabad in presence Dr A S Kiran Kumar, (former Chairman, ISRO), Faculty of IITH and Partner Incubators. The primary objective of BUILD is to support undergraduate students and recent graduates to give shape to their innovative ideas and eventually turn them into a startup.
Under this BUILD initiative, iTIC Incubator at IIT Hyderabad signed an MoU with 14 incubators pan India to promote the BUILD program, and to scout, shortlist and support 75 innovators. A national call for application has been launched by iTIC on its website. Benefits to selected innovators include financial aid of up to INR 1 lakh, mentorship, prototyping support and coworking space. At the end of the 12-month program, innovators could get a chance for preincubation support and further grants at iTIC Incubator at IIT Hyderabad. Innovators can apply through the iTIC website: itic.iith.ac.in/build with the deadline being July 5, 2023.
Prof Suryakumar S, Dean Innovation, IIT Hyderabad expressed his confidence in the success of the initiative and said, The success of an incubation ecosystem is determined not just by the number of unicorns it creates, but also its ability in encouraging more and more students looking at entrepreneurship as a career choice. We are hopeful that programs like BUILD will transform the entrepreneurship culture amongst students”.
Commending the initiative, Sreedevi Devireddy, Director- Venture Development Centre, GITAM, added, “We congratulate iTIC IITH and Greenko for conceptualizing this amazing initiative-BUILD which is the need of the hour on Innovation and Entrepreneurship continuum. This initiative will give wings to many Innovators who are grappling with lack of funds to build a prototype which is a very basic version of their product adequate enough to show stakeholders a feel of what they are building which demonstrates that their technology or innovation actually works. We at GITAM are elated to be part of this noble initiative as this will enable us to impact a large number of student Innovators”.
