10 teams participate in IIT Mandi Catalyst

Mandi, February 14

Ten startup teams participated in ‘Startup Exploration Program 2019’ of Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi, Catalyst, which inaugurated on February 11. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rugved Thakur was the chief guest of event.

The DC said it was a great initiative by IIT Mandi that young entrepreneurs were coming to Himachal with various business ideas and finding practical solutions for the community, state and other parts of the country.

Professor Timothy A Gonsalves, Director, IIT Mandi, welcomed 10 startup teams and encouraged them to make the best use of the research labs and faculty expertise available in the IIT.

“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”, he added.

He said that IIT Mandi Catalyst is providing training, mentoring and financial support to these startup teams over the next three months during which these teams will convert their ideas into prototypes/products. Among the 10 startups admitted to the program, three are working in agro-tech, three in clean energy, one on waste management and augmented reality-based commercial solutions.

“The inaugural session was followed up by a ‘Startups Showcase’, during which the dignitaries visited the presentation booths of the startup teams and engaged in detailed discussion on their ideas and prototypes”, said Director. — TNS