The Nehru Group of Institutions (NGI)-TBI, based out of Coimbatore, organized ‘Catalyst Conclave 1.0’, a pioneering effort to bring together the heads of Pre-Incubation & Incubation Centres, MSME – Host Institutions, IIC & EDC Centres and Industrial R&D Ecosystems representing different institutions from all over Tamilnadu. The event also doubled as a gateway to connect the various players of the startup ecosystem—startup enablers, innovation hubs, and entrepreneurship community networks all under one roof. A Technology Business Incubator (TBI), established in select higher educational institutions, serves as a support framework designed to assist startups, especially those centered on technology, in their development and growth.
The event was graced by Prakash, Hon’ble MP of Erode constituency; Sivarajah Ramanathan, Mission Director & CEO, StartupTN; C.N.Premkumar, AVP, StartupTN and Dr. V.Viyayakumar, Principal, NASC. While Dr.Vaikundaselvan, ED, NGI-TBI, delivered the welcome address, Dr. P. Krishnakumar, CEO & Secretary-NGI, gave the keynote address of the event.
The event featured prominent startup speakers from different regions of Southern India including Sam Jaikumar, Manager-IP& Technology Transfer-, AICTE; S Jaisankar, Project Officer, EDII-Ahmedabad; Sriram Sankaran – Director, Nativelead; Mittu Tigi, CEO, AIC-IIITKottayam; C N Premkumar; Dr Radhakrishnan, Physcologist & Director – Mind Management Training and Vishal Nair, entrepreneurship educator & lead trainer, Wadhwani Foundation. During the felicitation ceremony, mentors of NGI-TBI including Shameer, Founder-By The Startups Community; Premkumar, Charter Member, TiE Coimbatore; Naveen Krishna, Founder-Startup Payanam Community and several others were honoured with a certficate by the incubator.
Startup incubatees of NGI-TBI were also recognized, as they received seed funding provided by Startup India and EDII through the incubation centre. The event also saw a couple of startup product launches that were incubated by the TBI. Addressing the audience, Prakash, MP, a self-made entrepreneur, highlighted the importance of entrepreneurship and enlightened them that failure is the key to success. Sivarajah provided valuable insights on the various schemes undertaken by StartupTN, the nodal organization for startup activities in the state, in supporting the startups from ideation to launch. He added that Tamilnadu has topped the Startup India Rankings in recent times with the number of startups in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities increasing every year. Krishnakumar accentuated the various steps taken by team NGI-TBI in promoting entrepreneruship creating a robost ecosystem in the region.
Talking to the media, Dr.Vaikundaselvan said that the event was highly successful in that it connected the industry with the academia, highlighting the role played by the institutions in uplifting the startup ecosytem with the support of the government agencies and industry. He added that more efforts have to be taken by the institutions in enhancing the quality of startups coming out of the state, and that the event’s host NGI-TBI, which has a strong presence in Tamilnadu and Kerala, is ready to support institutions looking to set up pre-incubation centres with government apparatus anywhere in India. The event was coordinated by Suganya Gladies, Assistant Manager-Outreach, NGI TBI and team.