A report on startups & entrepreneurship activities undertaken by Gujarat University

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1 A report on startups & entrepreneurship activities undertaken by Gujarat University

2 Report: Vice-Chancellor Dr. MN Patel Meets Gujarat University Startups To Understand Startup Challenges July 16, 2015 Over twenty-five entrepreneurs of Gujarat University who met the Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat University, Dr. MN Patel, today shared the following points, regarding the challenges faced by student entrepreneurs while studying in institutes of higher learning. The Vice-Chancellor through the GUSEC team will consider and implement policies and reforms to fulfill the following wish list. 1. Much of the startup policies and terminologies in India are biased towards the Engineering and Management students, and there should be a platform where startups and entrepreneurs from even the non-technical fields can be nurtured. 2. Student entrepreneurs should be given an option to sit in deferred placements, where in they can pursue their entrepreneurial adventures during college and after graduation, but go back to the institute s or department s placement pool in case their venture does not succeed. 3. A policy should be in place where startups could get their staff salaries subsidised. 4. There is dire need of mentoring from the revenue model point of view, because students who are willing to take up their idea are passionate and are not introduced to the real world challenges and business problems, such mentoring from the existing entrepreneurs would help them establish a proper business and eventually, earn more, and succeed. 5. The university should create a network of students who are interested in internships. University s startups can then have access to a wide range of talent pool through these student interns. 6. The existing GUSEC website, which is quite inclusive, should be made open for ideas and a regular magazine/newsletter from the website should be put on place. Taking such simultaneous steps the ecosystem could be promoted easily. 7. Academics is not much entrepreneur friendly and hence, a proper academic support is needed from the university which would bond the students who are experts from the respective fields which in turn would help achieve a complete solution to a problem. 8. There is a need of an institution that goes on without dependencies on any factors, and GU itself has got vast startup pool of students dating back 60 years. Including GU startups from all walks of life would make the network stronger. 9. GUSEC must have a mentoring team comprising of the HR, Finance, Technical and Legal teams which can help transform an idea into startup. It should be clubbed with a screening system to filter out the ideas. 10. Any startup is not purely based on technical and non-technical aspects but it s an idea. Creation of a platform where students could bring up an idea and provided with support will be ideal. 11. The University must provide a way to handle governmental paperwork, like setting up a company, filing taxes or registering for patents. A one-stop solution from the university for all governmental paperwork and permission must be set up.

3 12. One thing observed in silicon alley is free flow of innovation and talent. Anybody can have idea but the real challenge is the closed doors of the institutions. A student having an idea must be allowed free flow of information and innovation from the different institutions across the state and beyond. List of attendees present: Dr. MN Patel Dr. Himanshu Pandya Mr. Hiranmay Mahanta Vice-Chancellor Coordinator, GUSEC Techpedia Mr. Rahul Bhagchandani Youth Connect Foundation Aakash Patel Alpesh Ahir Arastu Zakia Bhatt Tuhin Milanbhai Dazz Creators Climate Care Envirnoment Consulatant Many startups Unity Games Tech Chitra Jungi Desai Jigneshkumar S. Hetal P Mehta Hetarth Patel Jigar Kapdi Jigar Parmar Desai Softtech Ansi Byte Code Umiya Global Enviro Solutions Polsta Mobile Tech Aahvaan Adventures Kiran RK Mahendra Chaudhari Mitesh Shethwala Monarch Pandya Nadeem Jafri Aatap Energy Pvt Ltd You Dedicated Logomarket.co.in Heartymart Pratik Jain Puja Vora Saravaiya Dhaval R. Saurabh Shruti Chaturvedi Vaidehi Shukla Unity Games Tech Stockadda.com Chaai Pani Aahvaan Adventures

4 Report: Key Take Aways From Gujarat University Vice-Chancellor s Meeting With Principals Of Science Colleges & Heads Of GU Departments Regarding Startups & Entrepreneurship August 6, 2015 On Thursday, August 6, 2015, Gujarat University Vice-Chancellor Dr. MN Patel called a meeting of heads of all departments of Gujarat University, as well as principals / heads of all science institutes of Ahmedabad, affiliated to Gujarat University. GUSEC coordinators appointed by these departments and institutes were also present during the meeting. This meeting was a follow up meeting to the letter the Vice-Chancellor had written to all principals of GU affiliated institutes letter the Vice-Chancellor had written to all principals of GU affiliated institutes earlier in July. In a meeting that lasted well over two hours, the heads and their coordinators of the institutes and the departments were briefed regarding GUSEC, the university s and the Vice-Chancellor s vision, as well as way forward agenda. The Vice-Chancellor and his team stressed on the importance of cooperation from administrative and academic staff of the institutes and departments of Gujarat University and discussed several points for the way-forward agendas, and gave the attendees an opportunity to discuss possible challenges. Key take aways from the discussions: Focus on around 100 student startups during the initiation, who should be provided all possible support extensions that GUSEC can Simultaneously, carry out sensitisation programs in order to inspire as many students as possible to take up the route of entrepreneurship Prepare case studies of existing and alumni Gujarat University entrepreneurs and publish the same on GUSEC s website Case studies of unsuccessful initiatives and startups should also be published in order to help students not make the same mistakes again Gujarat University should recognise and endorse student startups in order to enhance the credebility of student startups Proper supervision from faculty coordinators can help nurture an entrepreneurship culture and ensure that the aid reaches the right students Focus on need-based research in order to match the industry needs and student skills. The heads of institutes and departments as well the coordinators were briefed regarding their roles and responsibilities and discussions regarding ways of communicating between GUSEC s Operational Team and GUSEC Institute Coordinators were also held. The Vice-Chancellor concluded the meeting by sharing that it was his dream to constitute a dynamic agency such as GUSEC in the state s oldest university and asked for the cooperation of all present attendees. A similar meeting with the principals of other GU affiliated institutes of Ahmedabad zone is expected to be conducted in the next few weeks, soon after which meetings with principals of other zones of GU affiliated institutes will be conducted in a similar fashion.

5 Report of roundtable meeting of Vice-Chancellors of all universities of Gujarat chaired by Honourable Minister of Education, Shri Bhupendrasinh Chudasama Date: August 21, 2015 Time: 4:00 PM to 6:15 PM Venue: Syndicate Room, 1 st Floor, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad (List of key points discussed is attached as Annexure I) (List of participants present is attached as Annexure II) On Friday, August 21, 2015, the Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat University, Dr. MN Patel, hosted a meeting of Vice-Chancellors of all public and private universities of Gujarat. The meeting was chaired by Hon. Minister of Education, Shri Bhupendrasinh Chudasama. The crucial role of state government and universities to support student startups & entrepreneurship was discussed by all attendees, which included senior-most government officials including the Commissioner for Higher Education, District Development Officer (Ahmedabad), over 25 Vice-Chancellors / representatives of universities, amongst others. Considering the recent boom in startups & entrepreneurs across the country and the rising job crunch, the Gujarat University Vice-Chancellor proposed an equal partnership between the state government and all universities of Gujarat to develop common policies, frameworks and mechanisms to support and nurture student startups & entrepreneurs. The state government and my ministry will take all necessary steps to make this possible. You are all experts in this domain and I request you to guide me to take this forward, firmly remarked Shri Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, state cabinet minister for Education, before starting his address to the attendees. Speaking about the pivotal role of universities and state government in supporting student startups & entrepreneurs, Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat University Dr. MN Patel said, All around the world, like in Silicon Valley in United States, or in Waterloo in Canada, or in Japan or in Australia, the best systems for supporting and nurturing startups & young entrepreneurs are operating successfully around universities in a sustainable manner. In Gujarat, we have close to 15 lakh students in higher education. Did you know more than 180 countries have a population of less than 15 lakhs, and some of these countries include UAE, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Singapore, New Zealand, Ireland, Luxembourg, etc? It is said that at an average a successful startup can create over 100 direct or indirect jobs over five years. What if Gujarat was to create 1000 successful startups every year? Is that not possible, given that we have more than 15 lakh students?, Dr. Patel said. Dr. Patel asked, Why can t all universities work together with the state government to form a common policy and common frameworks to support and nurture student startups & entrepreneurship?

6 Citing the Prime Minister s Startup India, Standup India mission, the attendees discussed strategies to make Gujarat the #1 state in student startups. Minister of Education Shri Bhupendrasinh Chudasama lauded efforts of Gujarat University and other universities in this area and suggested creation of a coordination committee with representations of the state government, universities, chambers of commerce, and experts from several fields, that shall implement a common student startup policy for Gujarat. I am happy that such a meeting has been organised by Gujarat University, and I believe that the state government should take a lead to incorporate such idea to materialise. Also discussed during the meeting was the Startup Scheme developed by the Industries ministry of Gujarat where in a grant of over Rs. 10 lakh for at least 500 startups of Gujarat was approved by the Gujarat government recently. A stipend of Rs. 10,000 per month for each entrepreneur for a period of one year is also provisioned in the Startup Scheme. Mr. Sunil Parekh, one of the members of the team that drafted the Startup Scheme was also present at the roundtable, and explained the scheme in detail to the attendees present. The implementation of the Startup Scheme is to be done by nodal institutions and universities can play a crucial role by applying to become a nodal institute, explained Mr. Parekh. The meeting was concluded with the decision of expediting the creation of the coordination team to implement the common student startup policy. The team will have significant representations of the universities; education, finance and industries ministries of the state; the industries chambers ; other significant actors from the entrepreneurial ecosystem such as incubators, startups, as well representations from the civil society and the student community.

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10 Annexure II: List of participants present Name 1 Shri Bhupendrasinh Chudasama Designation/Organisation Honourable Minister of Education, Government of Gujarat 2 Shri AJ Shah Commissioner of Higher Education 3 Dr. MN Patel Vice Chancellor, Gujarat University 4 Dr. AU Patel Advisor, KCG & Department of Industries 5 Prof. RL Godara Vice Chancellor, HNGU 6 Ms. Bhagyesh Soneji Chairperson, ASSOCHAM Gujarat 7 Mr. Hiranmay Mahanta Managing Director, Techpedia 8 Mr. Himanshu Pandya Coordinator, GUSEC 9 Mr. Rahul Bhagchandani Chairman, Youth Connect Foundation 10 Prof. Saurabh Dave Head, Centre for Emerging Technology & Incubation, Ganpat University 11 Dr. Sunil Shukla Director, EDI 12 Prof. Satya Acharya Head, PG Program, EDI 13 Dr. Anup Singh Director General, Nirma University 14 Dr. Ravi Gor 15 Prof. Parimal H. Vyas Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University Pro Vice-Chancellor & Acting Vice-Chancellor, MS University 16 Prof. Pratapsinh Chauhan Vice-Chancellor, Saurashtra University 17 Dr. Ketan Kotecha Provost, Parul University 18 Prof. Anamik Shah Vice-Chancellor, Gujarat Vidyapith 19 Mr. Sunil Parekh World Economic Forum 20 Prof. Shailendra Raj Mehta Vice-Chancellor, Ahmedabad University

11 21 Dr. Harish Padh Vice-Chancellor, Sardar Patel University 22 Prof. Hemant Patil Professor, SVNIT 23 Prof. Manish Gupta Associate Professor, DAIICT 24 Prof. RK Jain Registrar, DDU 25 Dr. MK Arvadia Navsari Agricultural University 26 Dr. AV Barad Junagadh Agricultural University 27 Dr. JB Prajapah Anand Agricultural University 28 Prof Ark Nath Chaudhary Vice-Chancellor, SSS University 29 Ms. Bhargavi Dave District Development Officer, Ahmedabad 30 Ms. Kinjal Desai Joint Coordinator, GUSEC

12 Report: Gujarat University Hosts Roundtable Meeting Of Stakeholders Of Gujarat s Startup Ecosystem In Presence Of Hon. Minister Of Education September 3, 2015 For the second time in two weeks, Hon. Minister of Education Shri Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, visited Gujarat University and held a meeting regarding the Gujarat s startup ecosystem. On August 21, the state cabinet minister had chaired a roundtable meeting of Vice-Chancellors of Gujarat state to discuss a common startup policy for the state. Today, the Minister attended a roundtable that was participated by student entrepreneurs as well as heads of incubators from Gujarat, along side top officials of the state government. The challenges faced by startups as well as by incubators, and the need for a common policy for the state of Gujarat were elaborately discussed in the two-hour long meeting. The time has come that our students also strive to become job creators instead of job seekers and to support them, all universities will need to come together to make this possible, remarked the education minister. The Prime Minister has taken on the mission of Start Up India, Stand Up India and Gujarat state should become the role model in this regard, said Bhupendrasinh Chudasama. Stressing on the importance of all stakeholders working together to build a common startup policy for the state, the minister added, The time has come that our students also strive to become job creators instead of job seekers and to support them, all 40+ universities of Gujarat must come together to make this possible. It is also crucial as to how we can ensure all the policies and initiatives can be accessed by rural and social entrepreneurs, remarked Bhargavi Dave, the District Development Officer of Ahmedabad. The meeting saw fruitful and productive engagement from present young entrepreneurs, as they not only discussed the challenges they faced, but also praised the government s and Gujarat University s constant push in order to build a sustainable startup ecosystem that benefits all stakeholders. There must be a way to make people aware about all such schemes and initiatives, noted Viral Shah, an Ahmedabad-based entrepreneur, as several suggestions regarding a comprehensive online portal that connects startups with incubators, experts, government officials as well as other stakeholders, were made by participants. Dr. MN Patel, Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat University, said, We will ensure that we continue to take more such initiatives and work with all stakeholders as we go ahead in leading this startup movement of Gujarat. As you all are the stakeholders of this ecosystem, I invite you all to propose the necessary actions that need to be taken in this regard, and I will ensure those actions are taken, the education minister had said as he concluded his own address earlier during the meeting.

13 Media coverage of GUSEC (Gujarat University Startups & Entrepreneurship Council)

14 2/11/2016 Print Page Published Date: 03 Jul 2015 India s first incubator for non tech startups at GU soon Keyur students are working at facilities of other institutes to further their startups or innovation. So, we decided to have our own facility MN Patel, GU vice chancellor welcome move The university will also come out with a student startup policy and a co working space for the startups Ahmedabad: Gujarat University (GU) will soon start an incubator, first of its kind in the country, for student startups of non technical faculties like humanities, commerce and pure science faculties. The incubator will be operational in current academic term. The university will also come out with a student startup policy and a co working space for the startups. It also has plans to promote innovations, said a top university official. Our students are working at facilities of other institutes to further their startups or innovation. So, we decided to have our own facility, GU vice chancellor MN Patel told dna. He claimed that this is the first instance of a non technology academic body coming out with an incubator for startups and innovators. The centre is expected to come up at university premises in the heart of Ahmedabad city. Sources in the entrepreneurial ecosystem are elated as they feel that the move will encourage other universities in the state to come up with similar initiatives. This can potentially create a competition among academic institutes to attract the most promising student startups and innovators, which in turn will raise the quality of startups and innovations, said the source. University authorities have brainstormed over the initiatives with various stake holders. Sources in the know of things say that this will give students of non technical faculty a level playing field compared to their peers in tech institutes and Business Schools. Mostly it is seen that Tier 1 academic institutes like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of Management have incubators or accelerators to promote their startups. Gujarat University is betting high on its 900 odd students pursuing Master of Science (M.Sc) considered at par with Bachelor of Engineering (BE) or Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech). The university is also about to get funds from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the central government for its upcoming Centre of Excellence. Established in 1949, the university also has a vast network of affiliated colleges, whose students will benefit from the proposed centre. Although there are plans to expand the incubation and innovation infrastructure to these colleges, but in a phased manner, said Patel. Along with incubators, a Student Startup Policy is also in the offing. With this, Gujarat has once again taken a lead in creating entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country. 1/2

15 2/11/2016 Print Page Gujarat Technological University (GTU) was the first university in the country to come up with a Student Startup Policy, a trend followed by universities of Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Ahmedabad is also home to a dozen odd technology business incubators (TBIs) approved by DST, unmatched by any other city in the country. Gujarat is also home to Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI). Gujarat was the first state to have its own venture capital company in the form of Gujarat Venture Fund Limited (GVFL). The state government has also come out with a scheme for the promotion of startups and innovators, but it s a non starter for want of a nodal institute to validate the startup or an innovator to enable them availing of benefits of the scheme. Copyright restricted. For reprint rights click here 2/2

16 2/11/2016 Mirror Title : GU to set up its own incubation centre Author : Kruti Naik Location : Article Date : 07/03/2015 The initiative is aimed at providing the varsity students a platform to develop entrepreneurial ideas; university wants students to be job providers Gujarat University is coming up with its own startup policy under which it is to set up an incu bation centre on its premises.the varsity's objective behind establishing the centre is to provide its students a platform to develop their entrepreneurial ideas. Every student of the university will be eligible to avail the facilities provided at the centre. The centre is to serve as the epicentre for all entrepreneurial and innovation-related activities on campus. Moreover, GU plans to utilize it as a co-working space for young entrepreneurs as well as an activity hub to sensitise its students on entrepreneurship and innovations. The varsity will soon get in touch with all the institutes affiliated to it in order to build a network of existing student entrepreneurs and to invite young entrepreneurs to participate and support student entrepreneurship and innovations. GU Vice-Chancellor MN Patel said, We have designed GU's own startup policy for students hailing from various fields. We will also take help from alumni to guide students. The whole idea is to give entrepreneurial boost to our students. In this initiative, a network of entrepreneurs (alumni of GU) will also be built and the students will be encouraged to take up entrepreneurship and innovate through a wide number of activities. The students of the university including the alumni and alumnae will be eligible to use the benefits provided under the initiative. One of the students Pratik Maniar said, The startup would be a great opportunity for us to explore our ideas and shape them into products. IIM Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad University and GTU already have their own startup policy and incubation centre. Majority of our projects at the varsity are technology based. Hence, this imitative will exclusively provide a platform to the students who are from arts, commerce and science background but have no exposure to technology startup. I want to get into social entrepreneurship. The university also plans to bring together all the existing startup promotion agencies, central institutes and policy makers to help it expand these initiatives across the state. We want students to become job givers instead of remaining to be job seekers. Hence, we are coming up with initiatives which will generate more jobs and boost the economy, added Patel. GU is also planning to implement a university-wide Student Startup & Entrepreneurship Policy to make further necessary academic and co-curricular interventions to support student entrepreneurs and encourage more students to become job creators. 1/2

17 2/11/2016 Print Page Published Date: 14 Jul 2015 GU to take the lead for common startup policy Varsity will become a nodal institution in state govt s assistance scheme Keyur Ahmedabad: Gujarat University has taken the lead in creating common framework on a startup policy for all universities in the state. The university will also offer its co working space for student startups of other universities. It also wants to become a nodal institution under the state government s assistance scheme for innovators and startups. Sources say with this other universities will not have to reinvent the zero after the common framework for startup policy for university is ready. It will be a model to be followed by all universities. GU has taken a lead in the country by announcing first incubator cum coworking space for student startups and fresh graduates in the non tech sector. The scenario is expected to be the same for other general universities as well. In fact in remote areas, there would be a dire need for a support system for the student startups. At present we have some space but we also have the USIC University Science Instrumentation Centre. It has been out of use for many years. We will spend Rs15 20 lakh and use it for incubation. It will be operational round the clock, throughout the year, he said. Students will also receive mentorships and credit scores. During a recent interaction with city based incubators, start ups and GU students pursuing startup dreams, Patel discovered that a co working space is a must. Gujarat University Startups and Entrepreneurs Council (GUSEC), a student start up driven platform, will keep a database of all the student startups, monitor them and be a single window to connect to them. GU has already nominated a nodal faculty for incubation centre. Patel will also written letters to principals of all its affiliate colleges to nominate one faculty who can scout, connect and help student start ups of these colleges. GU will also apply to the Govt of Gujarat to make GU as a nodal agency to ment Gujarat Start up assistance scheme. Copyright restricted. For reprint rights click here 1/1

18 2/11/2016 Mirror Title : GU sets up start-up council Author : Location : Article Date : 07/15/2015 The council will credit transfers to students for launching their start-up ventures, Rs 20 lakh sanctioned to develop co-working space on campus: GU Vice-Chancellor Gujarat University is to provide a start-up driven platform for its students by setting up Gujarat University Start-ups and Entrepreneurs Council. Under this council, the university will associate with alumni who are leading successful ventures to guide and train students on launching and sustaining start-ups. On July 13, GU Vice-Chancellor M N Patel wrote a letter to the principals of every college affiliated to the university.the letter instructed them to bring up the needs of entrepreneurship and start-up related reforms in education, to appoint a GUSEC faculty coordinator and to provide informa tion about present and former student entrepreneurs from the varsity's each institute. Patel claims that GUSEC will function as a nodal agency of the university. He said, This council will be headed by two university officials and the students will be its members. The council's focus will be on encouraging entrepreneurial activities, enhancing quality ideation, and implementing innovative ideas. So, this will be a platform where aspiring businesspersons can interact with like-minded people. We will credit transfers and provide added advantage to students working on startup ventures. Patel has also sanctioned Rs 20 lakh to develop co-working space. We require funds to build infrastructure and to provide basic amenities to build incubation centers. We are collaborating with GU alumnialumnus so that they can help our students develop real time products to enable them to become job providers in true sense. Currently, all sectors are facing job crunch. Hence, we want the students to become job givers instead of remaining to be job seekers, added Patel. GU had launched its incubation center a week ago. It is also building a network of entrepreneurs involving its students and alumnialumnus, and is to bring them together for an interaction session with Patel and the members of GUSEC operations committee. So far, the university has received 12 requests from students to launch business under GU's start-up policy. 1/1

19 2/11/2016 Mirror Title : Guj Univ students discuss entrepreneurial challenges Author : Ahmedabad Mirror Bureau amfeedback@timesgroup in Location : Article Date : 07/17/2015 Gujarat University Start up and Entrepreneur ship Council launched this month will be developed as a network for budding entrepreneurs. The main objective of this platform will be to enable students to share resources, support each other and boost innovation. GU VC M N Patel met over 25 student entrepreneurs in an interaction session to understand the challenges faced by start-ups while being a student. After we announced our intentions to support student entrepreneurs and startups, my office got several calls from entrepreneurs inquiring about the project. We decided to meet entrepreneurs in order to understand their needs and involve them in the decisionmaking process, said Patel.Several young entrepreneurs who attended the discussion shared views on how GU can help them. We need a system where existing start-ups could interact with students to create awareness, said Arastu Zakia, an entrepreneur. GUSEC Network Of Entrepreneurs (students and alumni entrepreneurs) will be formed to guide students. A decision was made to make GUSEC autonomous and run by students. The university, through GUSEC, is also planning to kickstart a co-working space for entrepreneurs. A location has already been identified, and budget of Rs 20 lakh allotted. GU already called for interested entrepreneurs and students to join GUSEC team through GUSEC's website. 1/1

20 2/11/2016 Print Page Published Date: 17 Jul 2015 GU alumni to mentor student startups Varsity will also pitch in funds for student startups till state s policy kicks in dna Ahmedabad: Gujarat University will set up a network of its alumni, who are established entrepreneurs, to mentor its upcoming startups. It will also chip in with seed funding to kick start the ecosystem. Vice chancellor MN Patel disclosed this during a meeting with the varisty s alumni and its startups. At the meet, mentoring and seed funding were found to be the immediate needs for startups. Patel declared that GU will pitch in with funding till the state government s policy is executed. We have funds, our corpus is increasing. So, we have decided to fund our startups, MN Patel told dna after the meeting. The varsity has formed GU Student Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC) to promote student startups. As part of this, a network of GU alumni entrepreneurs will be formed, who will interact with the student startups and mentor them. Close to 25 startups from GU shared their views regarding the steps it should take to iron out the bottlenecks for startups. Based on this, sources estimate close to 300 startups, from the university alone, operating outside the formal ecosystem in the city. GU has already announced creation of a 24x7 incubator the first institution in India to support non tech startups. It will also apply to become a nodal institution under the state s startup assistance scheme. Copyright restricted. For reprint rights click here 1/1

21 2/11/2016 Varsities aim to nurture 1,000 startups in a yr - Times of India Printed from Varsities aim to nurture 1,000 startups in a yr TNN Aug 22, 2015, AM IST AHMEDABAD: Gujarat University on Friday hosted a meeting of vice-chancellors (VCs) of all public and private universities in the state to discuss the role of government and universities in supporting student enterprises. The varsities have set a target of nurturing 1,000 student startups in the state in a year. The meeting, convened by GU vice-chancellor M N Patel, was chaired by education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and also attended by senior government officials like commissioner for higher education and district development officer (Ahmedabad). Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Startup India, Standup India' mission, the attendees discussed strategies to make Gujarat the number one state in student startups. Universities will act as a nodal agency for students, who will have to present their startup ideas. Once the idea is approved, universities will send the proposal to the state government. Under the startup policy announced by the state, the government will provide Rs10,000 per month as research incentive to a student. GU has proposed an equal partnership between the state government and universities to develop common policies, frameworks and mechanisms to support and nurture student start-ups and entrepreneurs. Patel said, "More than 180 countries have a population of less than 15 lakh. Some of these countries are UAE, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Singapore, New Zealand, Ireland and Luxembourg. On an average, a successful startup can create over 100 direct 1/2

22 2/11/2016 Varsities aim to nurture 1,000 startups in a yr - Times of India or indirect jobs over five years. What if Gujarat was to create 1,000 successful startups every year? Isn't that possible, given that we have more than 15 lakh students?" 2/2

23 2/11/2016 Gujarat: University VCs meet to act on PM Modi s start-up India, stand up India plan The Indian Express Print Gujarat: University VCs meet to act on PM Modi s start up India, stand up India plan By: Express News Service Ahmedabad Updated: August 23, :11 am Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Start Up India initiative, which would encourage entrepreneurship among the youth of India on August 15, (AP Photo) Various speakers including vice chancellors and representatives of about 40 universities from across the state stressed the need for framing a concrete start up policy with provision for funding from the state government at a day long round table conference at the Gujarat University on Friday. The conference was organised by GU Vice Chancellor M N Patel in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi s Independence Day speech in which he declared the launch of start up India, stand up India to motivate youths for innovation and entrepreneurship to convert India into a manufacturing hub. Though the idea of start ups first floated in the state by Gujarat Technological University Vice Chancellor Akshai Agarwal three years ago when he set up four clusters of engineering colleges directing them to motivate students to innovate and also tie up with the local industries to solve their problems. His effort succeeded to a large extent as several engineering and pharmacy colleges began innovation work and also filed patents. Some of the students also turned into entrepreneurs while still studying in third or four semesters of engineering. But PM s August 15 speech focussing on start ups has now motivated the government as also VCs of all universities that resulted in their assembly at GU premises today. Even State Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasma was also present at the conference. Chudasma in his speech suggested setting up international start up hostels in Ahmedabad and other places in Gujarat to attract international students and provide them facilities for innovation and development. GU VC M N Patel said that it did not take much to support start ups because universities and technical colleges already had enough infrastructure to do that. What was needed was to make institutte s infrastructure accessible to start ups so that the got a place to work and a lab to experiment at low or no cost. Techpedia director Hiranmay Mahanta said that over 300 students in different engineering colleges in the state were working on start ups at present. he said that PM s dream could get a boost if the state government formulated a concrete policy on it and also made available some funds for initial financing of the start ups. Ahmedabad University s provost Shailesh Mehta said that even non technical colleges could also be covered under the start ups programmes because entrepreneurship was not restricted to professionals only. He said that Karsanbhai Patel of Nirma group of Shreni Lalbhai were not engineers or holding any degree in managements and yet they set up ventures with annual turnout of hundreds of crores of rupees. Viral shah of LJ College of Engineering and Technology said that students required to be motivated by teachers for setting up startups and provided facilities for it at the colleges. Colleges also needed to be liberal in allowing them to spend time on their start ups projects by being liberal towards attendance in classes for such students. ends 1/2