Chennai: A total of eight teams from the 19th Cohort of the I-NCUBATE Program organized by the Gopalkrishnan-Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GDC) of Indian Institute of Technology Madras presented their learnings and narrated how the program transformed their entrepreneurial journey during the virtual FINALE held on Friday.

I-NCUBATE is an eight-week boot camp for early-stage start-ups. It helps these teams to achieve lab-to-market transformation of their research ideas into start-ups that create positive social and economic impact at scale.

Chief Guest of I-NCUBATE, Dr. Anita Gupta, Head (National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, said, “The Gopalakrishnan-Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GDC) is a unique concept as it helps the start-ups to identify if they should go ahead with their ideas. This helps in building confidence in young, aspiring entrepreneurs. During my visit to the Research Park of IIT Madras, it was evident that the investors were hunting for start-ups as the Park is a mark of the evolved ecosystem.”

She further added, “India has progressed well in terms of start-ups. From the Government’s side, there is no dearth of funds for supporting start-ups. The aspiring entrepreneurs should reach out to the right department at the right time. In the private sector, there is an array of Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors who are willing to invest in good ideas.”

The eight teams in Cohort 19 came from six different institutions including IIT Bombay, IISc, Bengaluru, and VIT, Vellore. The teams included Research Scholars, undergraduate students, and young entrepreneurs.

During the FINALE, the applicants explained their research idea, innovation, and its potential social or business impact. The team members also explained how GDC’s program helped them to gain insights into their potential customers’ needs and pain points.

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