Rajesh Kumar Prajapati, Director, Dept. of Industries, H.P., flags off the Startup Exploration Batch at IIT Mandi Catalyst
Mandi: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi Catalyst started its 2nd Startup Exploration programme of 2021 with Shri Rajesh Kumar Prajapati, Director, Dept. of Industries, H.P., virtually flagging off the programme. Along with the chief guest, the virtual event was graced by the esteemed presence of Prof. Ajit K. Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Mandi; Mr. Samir Shah, Managing Partner, Peak Ventures, and faculty members of IIT Mandi.
As many as 23 startup teams including 11 from Himachal Pradesh working in sectors including Waste Management, Agrotech, Healthtech, Enterprise Management, and Cleantech participated in the inaugural session.
The event began with an address by Prof. Ajit K. Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Mandi. While welcoming the participants Prof. Chaturvedi said, “This is an opportunity for all the startups to make the best use of resources and assistance provided by IIT Mandi Catalyst while you build your startup over the next few months.”
The guest of honor, Shri. Prajapati encouraged the startups teams from various parts of the country and congratulated them on their brave decision to start a venture. He mentioned to the entrepreneurs that Himachal Pradesh got seventh rank in the country for ‘Ease of doing Business’ in 2019 by the Ministry of Finance.
“On completing your incubation programme at IIT Mandi Catalyst, I invite all the young entrepreneurs to get the benefits of the ecosystem developed by the Dept. of Industries in Himachal Pradesh”, said Shri Prajapati.
He ensured the continued support from Himachal Pradesh Centre for Entrepreneurship Development. Along with this, the Chief guest lauded the initiatives taken by IIT Mandi Catalyst to support budding entrepreneurs who are coming to Himachal with various business ideas and finding practical solutions for the community, state and other parts of the country.
Mr. Samir Shah, Managing Partner, Peak Ventures, shared his views with startups on how to make ideas successful. He suggested that the entrepreneurs should choose tough problems to solve and eventually the solutions will help them to grow their business exponentially. He emphasized on the need of entrepreneurs to be flexible and adaptable to the situations.
The 23 startups selected by IIT Mandi Catalyst will go through a rigorous training and mentoring process over the next three months after which they will present their refined ideas on a demo-day. Most suitable ideas will be further supported by IIT Mandi Catalyst through a one year program under various funding schemes.
It is noteworthy that IIT Mandi Catalyst has supported about 140 startups in eight startup batches till now and this will be the ninth batch of startups in the last five years. Earlier this year, IIT Mandi Catalyst was given the responsibility by the State government to distribute INR 10 Cr under the Him Startup Yojana that provides up to INR 50 Lakhs to the startups for commercialization.