The Indian Institute of Technology Mandi Catalyst inaugurated ‘Startup Exploration Program’ on Monday, February 11, in the presence of Mr. Rugved Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Mandi. The IIT Mandi Catalyst is the first technology business incubator of Himachal Pradesh.
The event started with Prof. Timothy A. Gonsalves, Director, IIT Mandi welcoming 10 startup teams and encouraged them to make the best use of the institute.
Congratulating IIT Mandi Catalyst for reaching great success, Prof. Timothy A Gonsalves, Director, IIT Mandi, said, “IIT Mandi Catalyst is essentially a win-win proposition for IIT Mandi and for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs get access to our faculty, labs and sophisticated instruments. One of our commitments is to develop the technology that is useful for the society and one way of taking it to the society is through Startups.”
Mr. Rugved Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Mandi, welcomed the startup teams and congratulated them for their startup, applauding their initiatives undertaken by IIT Mandi Catalyst Mr. Thakur said, “It is a great initiative by IIT Mandi Catalyst that the young entrepreneurs are coming to Himachal with various business ideas and finding practical solutions for the community, state and other parts of the country”.
The session also included ‘Startups Showcase’, which included discussion and presentation of startup by the dignitaries.
For better success to the start-ups, IIT Mandi Catalyst will train, mentor, provide financial support to the start-up teams. Among the 10 startups admitted to the program, three are working in agro-tech, three in clean energy, one in waste management and others in IoT and Augmented reality-based commercial solutions.