Initiative Helps College student Startups Get Seed Funding & Mentorship

The TechForChange initiative, spearheaded by Nasscom Foundation and Ciena, empowers faculty learners to cultivate impactful social ventures by an intensive 18-thirty day period programme. Taking part startups receive grants, funding, mentorship, and a host of other means to support their growth and growth.

This report has been sponsored by nasscom basis in collaboration with Ciena.

A young little one is inspired to discover the entire world and get their arms filthy in a playground. ‘Fall down seven instances, stand up eight’, are words that just about every little one life by. Why then, do we drop this never ever-say-die mind-set as we improve up? 

Pushing children to harbour this mindset to remedy actual-daily life issues is the TechForChange programme, which presents them with a “geek playground”.

The plan, Nidhi Bhasin, CEO, nasscom basis, clarifies, is to motivate social improvements from the leaders of tomorrow. “We stimulate young children to perform although educating them that it’s ok to drop in a playground. We are generating a similar playground for entrepreneurs, where it’s ok to fail. We teach them to stand up by providing the needed assist wanted for results.”

Take, for example, 22-calendar year-aged Shivam Gupta who experienced a excellent strategy for developing drones for the defence and agriculture sectors. In need to have for steering and funding, he joined the programme as an engineering scholar in August 2022.

The programme aided him refine his plan and discover the art of pitching to investors. His startup ‘House Technologies’ was a person of the winners in Cohort 2 and is now up and operating, blazing an impactful trail on the floor.
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Not just Shivam, this programme has helped 11 startups obtain their toes though accelerating the entrepreneurship journey for the learners. This helps to make the challenging early stages of undertaking creation — from ideation to merchandise growth and marketing — less complicated to navigate.

TechForChange is a Corporate Social Obligation (CSR) initiative led by Ciena, a network components, software package and solutions enterprise, in collaboration with nasscom foundation as aspect of the nasscom ecosystem in its third year.

The purpose is to equip youthful innovators with necessary applications, aid, information, and chances, empowering them to make a meaningful impact. It is also to present them with a system to convert their thoughts into prototypes and firms. Spanning above 18 months, the immersive programme guides pupils, exposing them to chopping-edge technological innovation and opportunity use situations.

The best 5 higher-potential startups are offered with a seed grant of Rs 5 lakh every by means of Technological know-how Enterprise Incubators (TBI).

Empowering tomorrow’s leaders to generate sustainable innovation

Nowadays, the very important for sustainable methods that tackle crucial social issues is simple. And this programme seeks to empower young leaders to catalyse world wide transformation by way of their ground breaking ventures and entrepreneurial spirit.

College or university pupils refine their ideas and get them functioning by this programme.

TechForChange strives to direct this charge by nurturing emerging entrepreneurs and furnishing them with the guidance and methods they require to soar. It is intended to foster methods that not only tackle pressing troubles but also resonate with the United Nations’ Sustainable Enhancement Aims (SDGs), thus contributing to a far more sustainable and equitable long run.

This programme was conceptualised to address the hole uncovered in the ability established amid university college students. Although they are very well-prepared for placements, they are not geared up with the necessary instruments needed to start their possess ventures.

“Ciena’s Digital Inclusion programme aims to foster university student advancement and entrepreneurship in engineering, promoting it as a viable and sustainable profession choice,” claims Amit Malik, VP & Revenue Leader, Ciena India.

Ciena India personnel also engage in normal volunteering classes to impart their own capabilities and information to aid enhance the students’ confidence.

Ciena, in collaboration with nasscom basis, has conducted two effective cohorts in the earlier two decades and nurtured over 157 ideas. Of these, 11 startups have materialised across numerous sectors — which include healthcare, training, psychological health, and agriculture technologies.

These 11 startups been given mentorship from industry stalwarts and grants worthy of Rs 61 lakh.

The programme stands out by offering palms-on workshops and project-based mostly understanding.

“We acquired a large amount of assistance and aid from the mentorship classes. The programme served us study advertising and marketing and allocation of money too. It has designed me a extra confident individual who can existing his idea improved,” Shivam shares.

He adds that the programme helped them start the drones in the market and also led to grants value above Rs 19 lakh from programmes in IIT-Mandi, NSUT IIF (Incubation and Innovation Foundation of Netaji Subhas College of Know-how, New Delhi), and the Vimarsh 5G Hackathon.

Since the 3rd version of the TechForChange programme commenced in January 2024, the best 124 tips were picked. The process was kick-started by way of fingers-on workshops on style and design contemplating and ideation, which aided in refining the concepts.

The programme stands out by giving hands-on workshops and undertaking-based mostly finding out, which are instrumental in developing skills in cutting-edge technologies — this sort of as Synthetic Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).

Likely over and above technological techniques, the TechForChange-Cohort 3 programme emphasises the worth of innovation, guiding participants to identify consumer requirements and marketplace gaps. This assures that the remedies are not just theoretical but are relevant, and it helps in finding the product or service-marketplace fit.

By this, they hope to really encourage youngsters to discover options to the burning problems in society today. The TechForChange-Cohort 3 programme has established a framework and support process that enables these alternatives to come to be performing prototypes by technological know-how.

On the other hand, coming up with an impressive strategy is just the to start with stage in the journey of entrepreneurship. Recognising this, the programme presents substantial help in the critical early levels of venture creation. This features mentorship, methods, and steerage on areas — ranging from ideation to item development and advertising and marketing — ensuring that these youthful business owners have the ideal feasible basis to prosper.

The heartening transform noticed in the programme more than the earlier 3 a long time is the growing selection of ladies members. TechForChange’s potent determination to variety and inclusion has performed a key role in attracting extra gals. In the existing cohort, 30 percent of the participants are women of all ages. “We hope that this quantity continues to increase around time,” states Vishal Thakur, CTO, nasscom foundation. 

The best 5 chosen startups from the third cohort will receive organization mentoring, seed funding, and advertising and marketing help. At the end of 16 months, these 5 startups will be ready to start.

Particulars of the programme

The TechForChange-Cohort 3 programme is open up for college college students in Delhi-NCR with a technical qualifications. The learners need to appear up with a complex remedy for a social trouble. The programme spans 18 months — such as 11 months of cohort and 7 months of incubation for the picked five startups.

Students operating on creating drones for the defence and agriculture sectors.

Stage 1: Ideation monitor (2 months)

The selected 124 teams get an option to refine their early-phase ideas into feasible tips through workshops and webinars. This monitor focuses on refining the challenge assertion.

Phase 2: Solution monitor (3-4 months)

Fifty teams with promising thoughts will be picked for this enjoyable stage, wherever their tips will come to fruition as prototypes. Mentors with relevant practical experience will guideline the students and equip them with the necessary expertise to do so. The programme will also provide sources for their prototyping journey, such as a compact fund to support college students establish their solutions.

Stage 3: Startup observe (2 months)

Items get heated up as 20 promising prototypes move to the subsequent phase, where the ideas will commence turning into business products. Mentors will information on item-market fit, improvement, firm registrations, and much more.

Period 4: The closing 5

The top five startups will be picked out for incubation and a probability at seed funding. Their ventures will be on the cusp of becoming realities by a seven-month incubation.To get updates on impending webinars and situations, click listed here.

Edited by Pranita Bhat