Research Innovation Incubation Design Laboratory Foundation (riidl), an organization set up by the Somaiya Trust in 2010 to nurture entrepreneurship and innovation amongst its Students, Faculty, Staff & Alumni and has bagged the prestigious National Award for the year 2020 in the Emerging Technology Business Incubator category by Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. riidl, a startup incubator and an innovation center at the Somaiya Vidyavihar University is supported by Department of Science & Technology, Department of Biotechnology – BIRAC, Government of India and Maharashtra State Innovation Society, Government of Maharashtra.
On the occasion of National Technology Day, this prestigious award was presented by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Science & Technology (I/C), Minister of State for Earth Sciences, Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy & Space, in a ceremony held on 11 May 2022 in New Delhi.
This award was presented for exemplary work in the area of incubating and nurturing technology-based startups, and it has been instituted by the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science & Technology, Government of India. The award was received by Gaurang Shetty, Chief Innovator Catalyst/CEO, riidl in the presence of Secretary, DST, Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar and DG, CSIR, Dr. Rajesh S. Gokhale.
Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor of Somaiya Vidyavihar University said, “This award is a recognition of the sustained efforts of Team riidl & we would continue to provide support to the startup community. We tend to recognise & enable access to knowledge, experience, and funding for the startups, as we have forged academic collaborations, industry-driven alliances, and participated in government entrepreneurship programs to reinforce the quality of the leadership team, range of services offered, good practices, scale and scope of activities, financial and operational stability and impact. The riidl team deserves highest appreciation and proactive support from all of our institutions.”
In merely a decade, riidl, being a sector-agnostic incubator, has focused on building startups across various domains. It has facilitated over 130 startups, 2800 innovators and 2200 Bio-enthusiasts & researchers across sectors through their initiatives & programs like Maker Mela, Darwin, Startup Bootcamp, Bio-Entrepreneurship Program, Acceleration Program, Code Adventure, SkillEd, Project Based Learning & Internships Program to develop their early-stage ideas to fully functional companies by providing them educational training, industry-specific resources, intellectual property protection, HR support and other required resources; with a total revenue generated by startups over INR 200 Crores till date. They have created various labs to offer a working space to cultivate ideas into the final product; and multiple online and offline communities for budding entrepreneurs from across the globe to come together and promote innovative ideas thus training over 18000 students & participants
If you have an idea and want to start your own venture / need support in your projects, you can apply for incubation at riidl: riidl.org/incubation
If you’re looking to intern with their startups or with riidl, please reach out to them on riidl.org
