The Technology Incubation and Entrepreneurship Development Society of IIT Roorkee celebrated ‘Entrepreneurs Day’ by showcasing finalists of its accelerator program in New Delhi on August 7 and was a culmination to the accelerator program ran by TIDES Business Incubator at IIT Roorkee for a period of 16 weeks. TIDES Accelerator Program (TAP) is collaborative initiative of Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India) & IIT Roorkee to support Internet of Things (IoT) based startups.
12 Internet of Things (IoT) based and tech-focused start-ups accelerated by TIDES Business Incubator, IIT Roorkee pitched their ideas to the various stakeholders from industry, start-up investor community, academia, government agencies and young entrepreneurs who had gathered to listen to their ideas. These start-ups were part of the Cohort 1 of TIDES Accelerator Program (TAP), supported by Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India.
Among these were Logy. Ai, Jaan Innovations, ElectreeFi, Enerlytics Software, UniConverge Technologies, Vidcare Innovations, Eminere Tech Solutions, SafexPay, Nova Intonew, Chargeit Technologies, Power Zest and Humble Shit. The problems tackled by these start-ups ranged from Disease Diagnosis to Energy Generation. TIDES and IIT Roorkee are emerging as an important destination for young Entrepreneurs to develop their idea and grow into Successful companies. TAP, as an initiative has helped startups from across India.
The event was addressed by successful entrepreneurs Mohit Saxena, Co-founder of InMobi who inspired the students with their articulate key note speeches and addressed the need for more entrepreneurs in today’s day and age in India. He spoke on the topic of ‘Entrepreneurship: How to fight a lonely battle”. He urged the founders to take everyday as a good day and that failures are great teacher to learn from and not be disappointed. “Personal belief is important. Keep innovating.” He insisted that despite all problems and no infrastructure India is one of the three innovation destinations in the world after USA and China. “However, we lack in having more entrepreneurs in addressing social problems like basic hygiene and health.I am happy a few startups here are venturing into this space,” he added.
The event was also graced by Tania Friederichs, Counsellor, Head of Research & Innovation Sector Delegation of the European Union to India and Dr Anita Gupta, Associate Head, NSTEDB, Dr Naveen Vasishta and Praveen Roy. The jury panel consisted of Vikram Upadhyaya ,GHV Accelerator, Ravi Kaushik , Waterbridge Ventures, Amit Grover, founder Aha Taxis and Gulzar Azad, Google India.
Post the pitching by the Start-ups, awards were given out to the Start-ups with the best pitch. HumbleShit won the first prize of 50 thousand rupees, Safex Pay won the first runners-up prize of 30 thousand rupees and Power Zest won the second runners-up prize of 25 thousand rupees. In addition, TIDES is also offering Rs. 25 Lakh Rupees as seed funding money to each winner.
Talking about the event Prof. Ajit K. Chaturvedi, Director IIT Roorkee said “TAPS main objective is to facilitate knowledge exchange, understand innovation and requirements which can be bridged by the start-ups which have gathered here today. IIT Roorkee is happy to be a part of such an initiative where entrepreneurs can exchange ideas and lead the country into the future”.
DST is currently support 145 universities in India with entrepreneurship residence program and funding. After e-commerce boom, IoT is the next big area where DST is playing catalyst role in initial handholding for startups.
