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Follow UsBANGALORE, INDIA: When Larry Page and Sergey Brin got tired of using Alta Vista, they thought of creating Google which would serve the content as desired by its users.
Similarly, when Mark Zuckerburg wanted to create a social networking site for students of Harvard University, he worked on Facebook. One thing was common among these technology trend setters. They were all backed up by their universities to execute their ideas and apply their business acumen.
A similar trend is catching up in India, where the universities and educational institutes are establishing ‘incubation centers’ to encourage entrepreneurship in India by bridging the gap between academia and industry.
The centres provide a suitable environment to young entrepreneurs with innovative ideas and products using technology.
The recent launch of ‘Icreate’ (International centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology) in the suburbs of Ahmedabad on a 34 acre campus reflects the growing trend.
There is no doubt that IITs and IIMs had maintained technology incubation centers for quite some time. Interestingly, private T-schools across the country have also come up with technology incubation centers.
Most of the academic institutes have been hosting technology business incubation centres but not all of them are funded by the department of science and technology (DST).
Entrepreneurship and innovation have always been welcomed in the West. Now the attitude of Indians is also changing and they are willing to invest their ideas if it is backed up by some business incubator.
Most of the academic institutes have been hosting technology business incubation centres but not all of them are funded by Department of Science and technology (DST).
As on September 30, 2010, the department of science and technology had sanctioned the permission to 40 educational institutes and universities to establish technology business incubation centers.
That includes Ekta Incubation Centre at West Bengal University of Technology, Kolkata; University of Hyderabad; Technology based Incubator Society, University of Delhi; Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), IIM- A and Tech Park Bangalore.
“There are many colleges in Orissa which are having incubation centers but they are not funded and supported by the department of science and technology,” says Mrutyunjay Suar, CEO of Kalinga Institute of Industrial technology — Technology Business Incubator (KIIT-TBI).
According to sources in one of these organizations where the incubation centers are not funded by DST, the educational institutes act as venture capitalists or business partners to their incubatees.
KIIT-TBI in Bhubaneswar, which is funded by DST, has 11 incubatee companies. Roboticwares, one of its incubates, was started by 3 alumni of KIIT and they have bagged many good deals in embedded systems, software solutions and web applications.
Among the 11 incubatees, Roboticwares has been generating good business. Similarly, 2 doctors in Orissa had set up a health management company called ‘Hello Doctor 24X7’. The company aims to provide healthcare services at the doorstep using modern ICT like mobile phones and Internet.