BENGALURU: As a leg up to its alumni who want to begin their own startups, Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) is set to start an incubation centre with a slot for 18 startups to work from the idea to product phase.
Although the startups have to take care of their financing at the moment, the university will provide them a space at its Belagavi campus, where the alumni can use the internet, electricity and lab facilities of the university.
Karisiddappa, Vice chancellor of VTU, told TNIE that all ideas ranging from from IoT, energy buildings, to nano and bio-technology, are encouraged, provided they have socially-relevant products to offer. A team of industry and in-house experts at the university will scrutinise the applications, he added. Visvesvaraya Technological University is also building up finances to assist the startups in the near future. The university is planning to launch its startup innovation policy and initiatives in this regard in April following the convocation on April 3.
An exhibition has been planned for graduates to showcase their ideas. The state government had recently launched a dedicated policy to make the state a ‘destination of choice’ for Engineering Research & Development and encourage research among the youth. The five key priority sectors are aerospace and defence; auto, auto components and EV; biotechnology, pharma and medical devices; semiconductors, telecom, ESDM; and software products. Karisiddappa said government funds will be sought under the Engineering R&D policy as well. As part of their academic revamping, the university has also introduced a full-time research fellowship programme for 40 students from the coming academic year. The research fellowship is Rs 25,000 per month for three years and Rs 25,000 contingency grant for the year.