SNDT Women’s University Launches Pre-Incubation Centre to Boost Student Startups

The SNDT Women’s University will establish a pre-incubation centre designed to nurture student ideas into fully-fledged startups, providing crucial early-stage support and resources.

The new centre will serve as a launchpad, identifying promising concepts and connecting students with industry experts to facilitate registration, patenting, and business plan development – steps often vital for securing funding. This initiative builds upon the university’s existing incubation centre, which supports already-registered startups. A dedicated startup policy has also been developed to further encourage entrepreneurial activity among both students and faculty, aligning with the goals of the National Education Policy (NEP).

Vice-Chancellor of SNDT University, Prof. Ujwala Chakradeo, explained that many innovative ideas emerge from student projects, but often lack the necessary support to progress. “Several innovative ideas do come up with students working on curricular and extra-curricular projects…The pre-incubation centre will provide support at the nascent stage of any concept,” she said yesterday. The university has already trained 200 faculty members to identify potential startup ideas, resulting in 1,500 pitches from approximately 20,000 students, with 110 shortlisted for presentation at Innovation Mahakumbha 2025 on November 9.

Innovation Mahakumbha 2025 will bring together universities, industries, and innovators to showcase these emerging ventures and foster collaboration. Supporting student entrepreneurship is increasingly seen as a key driver of economic growth and innovation. University officials stated that the startup policy, currently awaiting final approvals, will include incentives like academic credits for students and certification opportunities for faculty.

The university expects the pre-incubation centre to significantly increase the number of viable startups launched from its campuses in the coming years.