VIBRANT GUJARAT STARTUP AND TECHNOLOGY SUMMIT 2018
” 3 CRORES GRAND CHALLENGE FOR INNOVATORS & STARTUPS AT NEHRU GROUP OF INSTITUTIONS, COIMBATORE”
Nehru Group of Institutions, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu is Organised “Vibrant Gujarat Start-up and Technology Summit 2018 (VG-STS 2018)” under the Vibrant Gujarat initiative supported by Government of Gujarat on 31st August 2018.
The event started at 11 am with Welcome Address by Dr. S. Prakash, Director – Research, Head ED Cell, Nehru Group of Institutions. He told that, the event is organised in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and GESIA IT Association (GESIA). Atal Innovation Mission- NITI Aayog and Invest India, Government of India, New Delhi are also partnering with the event as a mentor and guide. Entrepreneurship Development Institute India (EDII) and PwC are the Knowledge Partner, and ‘K and D’ is the event partner for the VG-STS 2018. Nehru Group of Institutions is the Institution Partner at Tamil Nadu for conducting Awareness session on the VG-STS 2018.
He told that the Awareness Session VG-STS 2018 had participants from Start-ups, Incubation Centers, Entrepreneurs, Academicians and Science & Technology Students from reputed Institutions of Tamil Nadu. He told that VG-STS 2018 is organised under Research & Development Cell, NGI. He said, soon NGI will be establishing their NGI Technology Business Incubator at Palakkad which is supported by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India with grant of Rs.16 Crores in the domain of Healthcare and IoT. Another project to support to students is NewGen IEDC with grant support of Rs. 4.37 Crores from Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. Also, he has received fund of Rs. 33.8 lakhs for organising DST NIMAT Projects. He concluded by saying that, so far Research & Development Cell has received a fund of Rs. 20 Crores and 77 lakhs till date and their main motive is to promote Entrepreneurship through the programmes like VG-STS 2018.
The keynote address was delivered by Dr. P. Krishnakumar, CEO & Secretary, Nehru Group of Institutions. He told that everyone should think of becoming Job Creators and not Job Seekers. He advised the participants to think of out of box and creatively. He advised the participants to utilise such great opportunities to go high in their life. Todays, world is ruled by technology so think innovatively to implement your dream ideas that are useful to the society, he said. He told, soon NGI Technology Business Incubator will be established at Palakkad with a space of 24,000 sq.ft. which is open for all Innovators. He told the initiatives like Vibrant Gujarat Grand Challenge is to support many innovative minds. These initiatives from Government of India is to make our Country Digitalised with technology.
The special address was delivered by Dr. P. Maniiarasan, Nehru Institute of Engineering and Technology. He told the participants, think of innovative ideas to build up your life. He told innovation is everywhere, opportunities are very limited. Hence, utilise the VG-STS 2018 to build up your life.
The Chief Guest of the programme was Shri. S. B. Sareen, Member Secretary & Project Director, DST – NIMAT, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad. He started with the motive of conducting this awareness session on Vibrant Gujarat Start up and Technology Summit, 2018. The objective of the Summit was to showcase the forces driving India’s and Gujarat’s start-up revolution and to strengthen the start-up ecosystem. The program would comprise of Grand Challenge, talks by inspirational speakers, networking with business leaders/experts, interaction with global accelerators, display of proof of ideas, mentoring/evaluation, funding options, validate and understand Next Generation changes, and exhibition, etc.
He told the event is conducted to provide an excellent opportunity to start-ups and stakeholders to connect with the best and brightest minds to explore how to fuel their business growth. He added that the event will feature leading companies, innovators, entrepreneurs, venture capital firms, academic institutions, NGOs, and start-ups in the space of Start-ups and Information Technology from India and abroad. The awareness session is followed by Vibrant Gujarat Grand Challenge of Rs. 3 Crore which will be held at Gujarat during 11-13 October 2018 at Gujarat. This summit is a major event being organized as a run-up to the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in January 2019.
He also added that this initiative is to promote Entrepreneurship in India and he is very proud it is promoted to the society through Educational Institutions. He told, it is very glad that the event is organised at Nehru Group of Institutions, since they have received fund from Department of Science and Technology, Government of India for two schemes namely NGI Technology Business Incubator and New Generation Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre. He congratulated them for receiving fund and supporting the students and society.
The Guest of Honour was Dr. Satya R. Acharya, Acting Chairperson (PGPs), Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad. He started his discussion on Vibrant Gujarat Grand Challenge. He explained that Innovators, Entrepreneurs and Start-ups can apply Vibrant Gujarat Grand Challenge which has Idea Stage, Blooming Stage and Scale-up Stage. The idea stage invites participation from individuals with new ideas or new prototype developed. The blooming stage invites participation from Registered Companies or Start ups and Scale up stage is for the companies which wants to scale up their business.
He told that there are 8 Domain Areas for Grand Challenge namely AGRITECH, FINTECH, Smart & Shared Mobility, Women Centric, Manufacturing 4.0, Governance 2030, Maritime & Military Intelligence, HEALTHTECH. Any individual with innovative idea / Start-ups can apply in the above mentioned domain.
He added that the Grand Challenge 2018 offers 25 Prizes in Idea Stage, 3 Prizes in Blooming Stage, and 16 Prizes in Scale-Up Stage. The top 64 entries in the Scale-Up Stage will be shortlisted and the selected Start-ups would pitch their idea in front of the Jury panel on 11th October 2018, who will then select the top 16 entries. The top 16 would present in front of Super Jury on 12th October 2018 for the Top 4 slots and the other 12 entries will receive consolation prizes. The top four winners in the Scale-Up Stage will get the Prizes money to the tune of INR 30 lakhs, INR 27 Lakhs, INR 25 Lakhs, and INR 22 Lakhs respectively.
Then, both the speakers from EDII, had discussion about the Grand Challenge with the participants of the Awareness Session. The participants enquired about the procedure for applying the Grand Challenge and its process.
The programme concluded with Vote of Thanks by B. Priyanka, Research Associate, Nehru Group of Institutions. She thanked all the persons who supported the event to make it a grand success.
View more photos @ 
