The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) and the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B) signed an agreement Friday to share expertise in the areas of technology and management with respect to startups incubated on their campuses.
The institutes will work together to provide technology and business mentorship to help young technology startups and entrepreneurs achieve sustainable growth in the Indian startup landscape.
“IIMB and IIIT-B, from their collective experience in nurturing entrepreneurs and startups over the past decade, recognize their mutual interest in positively influencing the technology startup ecosystem in India and the importance of collaborating with each other to nurture early stage technology ventures and help them in shaping appropriate business models,” said Suresh Bhagavatula, chairperson of IIMB’s NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL).
Set up in 2002, the NSRCEL is an open incubation centre nurturing early stage start-ups and currently incubates 18 companies. The IIIT-B Innovation Centre, started in 2009, has incubated 17 startups in the areas of healthcare, transportation and energy.
“This collaborative partnership is much needed and one-of-its-kind model of cooperation for the benefit of the startup community,” IIIT-B Director S Sadagopan said. “World over, startups look to mentoring and networking support provided by the incubators as key enablers of success. Startups incubated by these centres will now have access to a broader range of mentoring skills, both in the areas of technology and management, thereby enhancing the probability of their success,” he added.
On the occasion, Sadagopan reminisced his past association with IIMB. As a senior faculty member, he was instrumental in setting up the management school’s computer facility. “IIMB was the first IIM in the country to get email and in the 1990s that made front page headlines in the national newspapers,” he recalled.
Source: Economic Times
Image Courtesy: Times of India
