A consortium of the best IITs and IIMs in the country has been formed to augment the Indian entrepreneurship ecosystem. Named ‘Innovation-Venturing and Entrepreneurship in India Network (iVEIN)’, the association was founded by faculty members from IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, and IIM Kozhikode.
By conducting targeted research on innovation and entrepreneurship, the network of institutions will work to strengthen the country’s growing entrepreneurship sector. The collaboration will also allow it to work with stakeholders like incubators, government bodies, and investors, while taking advantage of the specializations of partner institutions, to spread awareness and enhance knowledge.
iVEIN was launched at the ‘Dialogue with Stakeholders’ event, organised by IIT Bombay’s Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE).
The initiative is being coordinated by Prof. A Thillai Rajan, from the Department of Management Studies at IIT Madras. He highlighted the growing focus on innovation, venturing, and entrepreneurship from policymakers, and their critical role in India’s economic growth, along with its position as an innovation country.
He added that iVEIN will enable and support academic bodies in conducting extensive research, and enhancing knowledge through conferences and journal publications.
Prof. B Ravi, the head of the Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship at IIT Bombay, said, “The proposed network would create a strategic bridge between various stakeholders, strengthen the ecosystem and synthesize the knowledge that exists in silos among different groups.”
Furthermore, it will also establish an interdisciplinary body of knowledge which presents multiple perspectives, keeping in mind the requirements of policymakers, innovators, entrepreneurs, investors academic researchers, and students, along with anyone else interested in innovation and ventures. This will also enable effective policy formulation and help nurture thought leadership in individuals.
As such, the consortium invited all institutes, organisations, and individuals, particularly policymakers, investment managers, practitioners, and entrepreneurs, to collaborate with each other, and drive the entrepreneurship mindset further.
Content Team
Himanshu
Shree Lahiri
