IIM Sambalpur Receives $2 Million Funding for Incubation Center on Ninth Foundation Day

IIM Sambalpur celebrated its 9th Foundation Day with the Theme: *“Accelerating Startup’s Ecosystems”*. Mr. Sushant Kumar, ESKYEN Ventures committed fund of 2 million USD to Incubation Centre of IIM Sambalpur to promote start-ups and entrepreneurship.  Also an MoU signed between IIM Sambalpur & India Accelerator to build entrepreneurial capacity for the incubates of IIM Sambalpur.
The program was address by Shri. Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon’ble Minister of Education, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, GoI as the Chief Guest.

During the event, the Chief Guest, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Education Minister of the Government of India, congratulated IIM Sambalpur on its Ninth Foundation Day through a video message. He praised the alliances and partnerships that IIM Sambalpur has formed with businesses like India Accelerator, SIDBI, and Flipkart, highlighting their importance in fostering entrepreneurs and assisting the livelihoods of local weavers and craftsmen. In his inspirational speech, he urged the students to use innovation, inclusivity, and integrity - the three pillars of IIM Sambalpur - as their compass points in all their activities. He acknowledged that IIM Sambalpur had given them the knowledge and abilities necessary for professional success and urged them to constantly remember their greater purpose, strive for excellence, give back to society, and uphold the values that will cause India to become a developed country by 2047.

The Guest of Honour, Mr. Sushant Kumar, Founder & Principal of ESKEYN Ventures & Indus Capital, USA, underscored the vital role of confidence in early investors like Ram Shriram, who was the first investor in Google and supported Larry Page and Sergey Brin, even during the company's unprofitable years. He shed light on the enormous obstacles that companies must overcome by empathizing with the primary worries that frequently plague them, such as fundraising, loan repayments, and job stability. Additionally, Mr. Kumar revealed major funding for an incubation center at IIM Sambalpur totaling $2 million. He commended the dynamic leadership of Professor Jaiswal and his team, assuring that the project's implementation would commence shortly.

The Keynote Speaker, Mr Hiranmaya Mahanta, CEO, i-HUB Gujarat shared a story of Stanford University's innovative spirit. Stanford got $50,000 from the U.S. State Department's innovation fund when it was established in 1939, but their strategy for fostering innovation made them a force to be reckoned with. In a similar vein, he believed that IIM Sambalpur might take the lead in promoting entrepreneurship and innovation thanks to Dr. Jaiswal's inspirational leadership. The institute, like Stanford University, has a fantastic opportunity to influence the future.

Additionally, he encouraged students to adopt an innovative mindset, take prudent chances, and not be afraid to ask questions.

In the welcome address, Prof. Mahadeo Jaiswal, Director, of IIM Sambalpur stated, "Established on September 23, 2015, within its 8-year journey IIM Sambalpur has carved a niche among the top IIMs. The vision of IIM Sambalpur is to nurture responsible leaders with an entrepreneurial mindset and core values centered around innovation, inclusiveness, and integrity. We are also privileged that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the institute on January 2, 2021. Some achievements in these 8 years include: In 2019, we created history in top B-schools; in 2019, IIM Sambalpur achieved 50 per cent gender diversity, a milestone followed by all IIMs."

He also spoke about the trend in increasing the percentage of non-engineering students in the MBA batch in which IIM Sambalpur emerged as a leader in the country. The director further informed about the three unique projects namely BunkarValleys.com to promote master weavers and artisans, MineralValleys.com to study the value that mines and minerals are creating for the people of Odisha and DigitalValue.com to promote digital leadership in the country and upcoming MoUs.”

Mr Hiranmaya Mahanta, CEO, i-HUB Gujarat graced the event as the Guest of Honour. On the occasion, Mr Arindam Mukhopadhyay, Partner, India Accelerator; Mr. Deepak Sharma, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, India Accelerator and Mr. Bodhisattwa Sanghapriya, Founder and CEO, IG Drones were also present.

On the occasion, the key achievers in different fields were felicitated by the dignitaries. Mr. Amrut Mohanty, CAO I/C gave the vote of thanks. The event concluded with a roundtable discussion on the topic 'Accelerating Startup’s Ecosystems.