BHUBANESWAR : The Indian Institute of Technology-Bhubaneswar (IIT-BBS) is all set to launch an ambitious start-up initiative to incubate 100 start-ups across various sectors with a valuation of at least Rs 100 crore each by 2036.
Speaking to mediapersons on Monday, IIT-BBS director Shreepad Karmalkar said Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will inaugurate the initiative on February 11. The initiative aims to accelerate the entrepreneurship drive and redefine the startup ecosystem in the country by making Bhubaneswar a hub of research.
He said the research and entrepreneurship park of the institute will be expanded from its current 20,000 sq ft area to 80,000 sq ft in next two years with a financial support of Rs 130 crore from the Ministry of Education. “IIT-Bhubaneswar is one of the second generations of IITs which has expertise in various domains including minerals and materials, artificial intelligence, climate science, smart infrastructure, renewable energy, semiconductor devices and integrated circuits,” he added.
Stating that 100-cube startup initiative is aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Purvoday vision for Startup India and Atmanirbhar Bharat, Karmalkar said, “We are focusing on the eastern part of the country in which IIT Bhubaneswar will be the hub and other institutes will act as spoke.”
The research and entrepreneurship park will provide essential resources, mentorship, seed capital and access to potential investors. This is an unique system to provide benefit to entrepreneurs from Odisha interested to set up startups. There is an elaborate system on how to create a startup and persons interest may directly contact the institute, he added.
The IIT director said 20 startups are already incubated and 23 more are in pre-incubation stage. Almost all the entrepreneurs are from Odisha. The startups span across many sectors like electric vehicle, deep tech (sensor manufacturing), handicrafts (value addition to Sabai grass), production of fish feed and software related including artificial intelligence (AI).