Director JKEDI attends two-day incubator capacity development workshop at IIT Madras

Jammu,20-Feb: Director JKEDI, Ajaz Ahmad Bhat attended an incubator capacity development program jointly organized by Startup India, IIT Madras Research Park, and IIT Madras incubation cell in Chennai. The theme of the workshop was “what makes an incubator successful”.

The officers were deputed by Prashant Goyal, Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir. In order to make J&K a startup-friendly place, the department is revising the operational guidelines of the J&K Startup Policy to make it more inclusive and to incorporate best practices from across the country.

The workshop started with an inaugural session by Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala, President, IITM Research Park & IITM Incubation Cell. He shared his rich experience with the participants and gave an in-depth insight into how a university should run an incubator and the importance of creating discipline among startups.

Aastha Grover, Head of Startup India gave a presentation on their role and how they are helping startups around the country. The workshop also included sessions with successful entrepreneurs. Ravi Saroagi, co-founder, of Uniphore, Ranjith Mukundan from Stellapps Technologies, and Arun Prakash, Guvi Apps, shared their knowledge and first-hand experiences on their journey.

The workshop also included panel discussions on creating a successful startup. The panel included Prof. Prabhu Rajgopal and R Narayan Swami among others. The participants also visited various research facilities of IIT Madras and interacted with faculty members and researchers. They were also given a tour of their Tech Incubators and appraised about deep tech solutions and innovations that are solving societal problems. For the last several years, IIT Madras has been focusing on India’s societal problems, which they can solve. Some quick examples are the robot that cleans septic tanks, 3D printed houses, and foldable housing through which 3,000 oxygen beds were made ready in just about a month during the Covid-19 pandemic. These were unanticipated by an academic institution a decade ago.

Vishal Ray, Incubation Manager, Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Business Modelling, JKEDI also attended the workshop along with the Director, JKEDI. He also discussed possible collaborations and how to make the incubator at the Institute vibrant and result-oriented. Sharing knowledge and best practices will help JKEDI reach new heights and benefit the youth of J&K.(CNS)