Creating role models for the student community

Hyderabad: iB Hubs Startup School, a 4-week zero-fee and zero-equity student acceleration programme has taken in the 7th batch of young founders and cofounders. This programme equips student entrepreneurs with startup life-lessons and essential skills to get a head-start in their entrepreneurial journey and successfully navigate the dynamic startup world.

The first cohort of iB Hubs Startup School started on May 13 in Hyderabad and in Lucknow cohort, it starts from June 13. Each cohort will have four weeks of intensive learning and experimentation. The programme is hosting 27 young startups from a diverse range of domains like IoT, agritech, medicine, green tech, social media and more.

Most of the startups are in prototype stage. Few of them are 'Mars' - IoT-based enabled devices that promote zero budget natural farming, 'Cardia Care Technologies' - cost-effective solutions to detect heart-related issues'Engineers Hub'- a platform for college students to accelerate their learning, 'Wricks' - promotes safer environment by building eco-friendly solutions like bricks, tiles, etc. with plastic waste.

"The core idea of initiating this programme is to nurture student entrepreneurs and create role models in the student community which further fosters the entrepreneurial culture. E-Cells of top universities of India including IITs, NITs, etc. have joined hands to take this initiative across the country. This year, more than 800 aspiring entrepreneurs from 200 universities across 25 states in India have applied for the programme, which reflects the rise in the entrepreneurial spirit in the country." says Kavya Dommeti, CEO of iB Hubs.

During the first week, the student entrepreneurs learnt the importance of customer centricity, figured out their value propositions and customer segments, conducted on-ground interviews with their prospective customers, helping them get closer to product and market fit.

In the coming weeks, experts like Vineet Khurana, VP Chandigarh Angels Network, Dr Jagdish Chaturvedi, ENT Surgeon, Stanford-India Biodesign Fellow 2012, Sivareena S L, Co-Founder and COO, PregBuddyetcwould be addressing the startups. The founders would master the lean startup methods, strategise business models, develop pitch decks, learn basic financial and legal aspects. They would also lay the foundations for strong team culture and would set out to start their journey with a six months execution plan in hand.

Alumni of iB Hubs Startup School '17 and '18 have joined the 2019 programme to guide their juniors, throughout this programme and after, with their experiences and learnings from running the startups for over a year. Along with advising the young founders, the seniors also will work towards the growth and expansion of their own startups under the guidance of programme mentors. With a robust ecosystem like this, iB Hubs Startup School is a sustainable mutual growth model, where every stakeholder benefits and adds value to each other.

Excerpts from an interview:

What is the idea behind starting iB Hubs Startup School?

iB Hubs Startup School had its inception in summer of 2017, after realising the needs of student entrepreneurs, who are studying in their respective colleges. This 4-week acceleration program, especially designed for student entrepreneurs, was developed to create role models in the society, who can aid in building the startup ecosystem and take the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship forward in India.

What progression do you envision for students?

Students are the future of the society. We believe that with this program, startups will get to learn the important fundamentals necessary to build a value driven business. Imbibed with right values and culture, they will have the potential to build valuable startups. Their growth with help other students to witness role models in their own communities, who will follow suit. This will bring an exponential growth in the value driven startups in the country.

Which markets have you seen the most traction in?

As surprising as it might sound, but we have seen equal interest among both business based and cause based entrepreneurship. The startups we have selected majorly belongs to Agriculture, IoT, medical devices, aggregation services and psychology, waste management solutions.

Tell us about the 4-week acceleration programme

At iB Hubs Startup School, the startups would build customer-centric MVPs, lay the foundations for a strong team culture, understand the fundamentals of financing, etc. through one-on-one mentoring, empathy experiments and expert talks. Post programme, many startups went on to win more than 70 national and international competitions, secured government grants, funds, won contracts from reputable clients like Reliance, Adani group, etc. and created revenues and employment.

On what basis do you rope in industry experts and entrepreneurs for talks at the school?

Based on the participating startups, we build up a plan that can help in maximising the growth of their startup in the least time possible. With the requirements of startups in context, we arrange for guest talks and interaction with industry experts, both from the partners and successful entrepreneurs in the ecosystem. In addition to this, we also invite alumni of iB Hubs Startup School to engage with startups and support them in their journey.

What is the essential knowledge to build a successful startup?

To build a successful startup, the prime focus should always be on customer centricity. Startups should be able to understand their customers in depth, which will help an entrepreneur, cater to customer's pains and create the best customer gains at every point in their experience. In addition to this, startups need to understand essentials needed for building a strong co-founding team, scaling up with right employees, financing in the most optimal way, maintain clear paperwork, plan for contingencies, etc.

Are you planning to expand across India in the near future?

As we initiated this programme to create role models who can take a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship forward, we are already witnessing the impact. A lot of startups went ahead to give inspiring talks at reputed platforms and conferences, establish e-cells in their colleges, organise workshops on entrepreneurship in their own communities, and so on. Currently, we are happy to witness the culture development and expansion with our alumni. We will look for expanding with different programmes as and when needed.

Startups trained by iB Hubs

Bliscare: Working to build a safer life for pregnant women with their pre and post pregnancy monitoring solutions.

Domain: Medical Devices, IoT

Stage: Early Prototype

-Nikita Kumari

Cardia care Technologies : Building a cost-effective device to detect heart-related issues.

Domain: Medical Devices, IoT

Stage: Early Prototype

- Shyam Prakash Kashiwar

Mars (Growhitha): Promoting Zero Budget Natural Farming by building a cost-effective IoT device for making natural fertilizers, with minimal human intervention. Agritech, IoT Early Prototype

Domain: Agritech, IoT

Stage: Early Prototype

-Venkata Mahesh Subrahmanyam Bharatula

Hatch: A platform for creative individuals (artists, independent film directors, painters, musicians, etc.) to realise their dreams by connecting them with relevant stakeholders (music development studio, producers, investors, etc.) and get access to necessary resources for their projects.

Domain: Marketplace for artists

Stage: Early Prototype (Website)

- M A Adithya

Voz: A social content platform that inspires users to dive deep in their passion through dedicated social spaces and uniquely driving conversations in it.

Domain: Social media, AI

Stage: Early Prototype (500+ beta users)

- Abhishek Mehta

Wricks: Building eco-friendly solutions for a safer environment by making bricks, tiles, etc. with plastic waste.

Domain: Construction, Green Tech

Stage: Prototype (bricks, tiles, etc.)

- Kunjpreet Kaur Arora

KT (Karanam Technologies) : Using Hydroponics and Aeroponics to design and generate cost-effective and healthy food options.

Domain: Agritech, IoT

Stage: Early Prototype

- TadimallaCharan Sanjeev

Engineers Hub: A platform for college students to improve their experience by helping them to explore, navigate and engage with different aspects of their college life, and accelerate their learning

Domain: Platform for students

Stage: Early Prototype (app, presence in 4 colleges)

- Devender Singh Bohra

TechThops : Building a platform to provide the necessary hardware and mentoring services to the students to build outcomes driven thesis projects. Platform for students Early Prototype (supported students in 50+ projects)

Domain: Platform for students

Stage: Early Prototype (supported students in 50+ projects)

- Nallala Srinivasa Manikanta Akhil