There are a lot of ideas, however, it’s all about putting them into action! To see the light of day, all great ideas require a solid platform. Having the chance to show off your skills and ideas will undoubtedly inspire the entrepreneur in you. It goes without saying that entrepreneurship is also extremely critical to the growth of our country’s economy.
CV Raman Global University, with an aim to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among the students, has established two incubators in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and NITI Aayog. The incubators are designed to change the start-up landscape of India by transforming ideas into reality.
Team NSN spoke with Mr. Bhagabati Prasad Pattnaik, CEO, AIC- CV Raman Global University, to learn more about incubators and how they are catalysing the entrepreneurial movement in India by assisting students in becoming entrepreneurs. Continue reading to learn more.
Q. Please tell us more about the incubation centre in CGU?
A: CGU Odisha has been awarded with two of the Technology Business Incubators from the government of India. The incubators are established in collaboration with DST and NITI Aayog in 2019 and 2020 respectively to support skill development and research and development inclusive academic excellence. The idea is to focus on regional and global issues in the sphere of innovation and entrepreneurship. The incubator which was established in collaboration with DST is focused on Agriculture and Food Processing and the Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) is focused on Advanced Technology based Manufacturing.
Q. What is the idea behind setting up the incubation centre?
A: We already have innovators and students from all over the country who have been winners (have been successful) in numerous competitions, such as WorldSkills and Hackathons. Through the incubators, we envision pushing them past this point and helping them reach new heights.
The primary goal of the incubation centres is to create an environment that encourages technical innovation and provides effective answers to societal problems. We provide our incubated start-ups with services such as initial brainstorming, concept generation, consultancy, mentorship, networking, connecting to other subject matter experts, guiding them to market access, and, if they qualify, connecting or funding.
Q. How is the incubation centre helping students in giving shape to their ideas by encouraging entrepreneurship?
A: The finest contribution incubators can make is to instil the habits of “problem solving” and “design thinking.” The rest of the invention process will unfold naturally. The centres produce examples of entrepreneurs from inside the neighbourhood as well as from the surrounding area. Students have the opportunity to work alongside innovators, gain an understanding of their challenge, passion, and wider goals, which helps to increase the feel-good factor about entrepreneurship, which is not culturally available for us in eastern India.
Also read: How the establishment of CoEs has helped CGU in producing a future-ready workforce https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/how-the-establishment-of-coes-has-helped-cgu-in-producing-a-future-ready-workforce/
Q. How is the response of the parents and students to the incubation centres?
A: With the recent excitement surrounding firms becoming unicorns in 2021, students are preferring to join startups as they are receiving better packages and job chances, leadership opportunities, and so on. Parents and aspirants have been left with a positive impression. The mental hurdle or taboo around startups has dissipated significantly.
Having a structured SOP in place at the university for student entrepreneurship can go a long way toward changing the generation’s thinking and demonstrating results.
Q. What is the future road map for the incubation centre?
A: With a clear objective of fostering startups in a very exclusive incubation process and a great sector focus network in place, we are representing national and worldwide forums. From the beginning, we’ve been attracting national and international attention. In the near future, I want to see some significant sector reforms, as well as a significant contribution to transforming Odisha into a startup hub.
