BML Munjal University (BMU), a Hero Group initiative held the official launch event of Atal Community Innovation Center-BMU (ACIC-BMU) on Nov 29. The Center was inaugurated by Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog in the presence of Prof. Shyam Menon, Board Member, ACIC-BMU Foundation and VC-BML Munjal University, Mr. Manglesh Yadav, Program Director, AIM, Mr. Rajesh Kumar Jindal, Principal, Government Polytechnic, Manesar.
The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) would provide grants for the ACIC-BMU totaling INR 2.5 crores over five years, BMU would contribute a matching grant within the same time frame. ACIC-BMU is incubating 22 startups. The founders of these startups include students, faculty of BMU, and outside innovators.
Speaking on this, Prof. Davinder Singh, CEO, ACIC-BMU Foundation, said, “India is witnessing a phenomenon where stakeholders are coming together to pool resources and create a startup hub. Incubators at HEI’s play a critical role in promoting the culture of entrepreneurship through ACIC-BMU. Mobilizing students and the youth in the nearby community to be innovative and entrepreneurial is of utmost importance. With the setup of ACIC-BMU, we are keen on ensuring that enough weightage is provided in this space. ACIC-BMU will connect various innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives at BMU with the start-up ecosystem.”
He further added, “At ACIC-BMU, the focus is to promote innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and encourage innovators within the university and the community around, especially in tier 2&3 towns. Our vision is to promote women entrepreneurship and thereby one-third of these startups identified in this programme have women founders. Additionally, we also have been actively promoting initiatives that assist rural women in starting microbusinesses. More than 30 women have been trained and many have set up microbusinesses.”
