Program supports entrepreneurial spirit of Karnataka students
Bangalore – InUnity Mangaluru, a 4-month youth entrepreneurship program, celebrated the graduation of its second cohort on the 7th of January 2023 at Comedkares Innovation Hub Mangaluru. The valedictory ceremony was presided over by Mr. D. Vedavyas Kamath, Managing Director of DVG group and MLA Mangalore South, Dr. S. Kumar, Executive Secretary of COMEDK, Mr. Sanjeev Gupta, CEO KDEM and Mr. Gaurav Hegde, Chairman CII Mangaluru.
“In alignment with the vision of leveraging the potential of the youth to become job creators, InUnity took a crucial first step towards developing the next generation of entrepreneurs. Going forward, InUnity Mangaluru shall be organized as a biannual event collaborating with all the tech and non-tech institutions and industry associations in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Uttara Kannada districts. The cohorts shall focus on mentoring youth that aspire to build entrepreneurial careers. We hope this will lead to the creation of 100 startups by 2026,” said Johnson Tellis (Co-founder & CEO, InUnity LLP).
“The Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship believes that a paradigm shift where Indian youth go from being job seekers to job creators is the need of the hour. India needs to create 90 million non-farm jobs between 2023 and 2030 and encouraging problem-solving entrepreneurship amongst the youth can be the key to developing solutions for the current unemployment crisis. These ventures can help address local challenges, and in turn, create a sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem. GAME is honored to partner with InUnity for this innovative program which will continue to bring out the best of Karnataka’s young entrepreneurs,” said Madan Padaki, (Co-Founder, GAME).
The graduation program recognized the accomplishments of young budding entrepreneurs and felicitated the shortlisted 54 students from a pool of 500 aspirants who have successfully developed potential solutions in a span of 4 months to help solve various local challenges with innovation in the fields of agriculture, healthcare, waste management, and deep tech. The principals and coordinators of various colleges in the Mangaluru region encouraged the students with their gracious presence.
The program also aims at creating forward linkages for the current cohort, building a network of Investors and Incubators ready to support student startups, and scaling and replicating InUnity’s model. This program will also enlarge the narrative around the success potential of Youth Entrepreneurship and will lend strength to shifting the narrative from job seekers to job creators and problem solvers.
Launched in 2021, InUnity is a pilot program in partnership with Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) and Confederation of Indian Industries Mangaluru. It was initiated with a vision of identifying entrepreneurial youth across the Mangaluru region, to solve local challenges. Prominent organizations and institutions such as Syngenta Foundation, College of Fisheries and the Department of Fisheries, and Krishi Vigyan Kendra of Dakshina Kannada, collaborated with InUnity to identify local problems that needed solutions. The program is now poised for further growth and wider adoption across the state.