T-Hub, which leads India’s pioneering innovation ecosystem, through its capacity building initiative T-Tribe, announced the graduation of 208 students from the first batch of the Launchpad program. It is one of the expertly curated programs of T-Tribe that helps students aspiring to become entrepreneurs.
The Launchpad program is a year-long educational experience that is a perfect amalgamation of theoretical and practical learning. The program not only enlightens students on the scope of entrepreneurship but also gives them a direction to achieve success in the field. This batch also had the opportunity to learn from the seasoned entrepreneurs on pivoting their business operations to navigate through the COVID-19 crisis.
The college and education system must become more diverse, with a greater emphasis on realistic experience, not just academics. Entrepreneurship education has become more prominent, with many young students enthusiastic about learning more about how to succeed in business
Ravi Narayan, CEO, T-Hub, said, “The college and education system must become more diverse, with a greater emphasis on realistic experience, not just academics. Entrepreneurship education has become more prominent, with many young students enthusiastic about learning more about how to succeed in business.
“T-Tribe’s programs aim to address it and enable the students to have early exposure to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. This year was anything but normal, but that did not deter our Launchpad students. The completion of the first batch marks a major step for our tech and innovation ecosystem.”
21 Colleges Over 800 Hours of Content to Around 2000 Students
T-Tribe partnered with 21 colleges from across the country for this program and delivered more than 800 hours of content to around 2000 students. The graduated students are from 10 partnering colleges, which include MLR Institute of Technology, Marwadi University, Vardhaman College of Engineering, Vallurupalli Nageswara Rao Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology (VNR VJIET), Malla Reddy College of Engineering and Technology (MRCET).
T-Tribe conducted a panel discussion on “Entrepreneurship: Opportunities vs Reality” as a part of the graduation ceremony. The moderator and panel members for this discussion were the students who shared their learnings and experiences from the program.
Pitch It to Win It
At the ceremony, T-Tribe also announced the winners of the online idea pitching competition Pitch It to Win It. This competition required all the participants to submit a one-minute video pitch about their business ideas which will be posted on all the T-Tribe social media platforms. The winners were selected based on the number of likes, shares and comments received for their post across the social media platforms. Three winners were awarded cash prizes worth INR 1,00,000, INR 50,000 and INR 25000.
Benefits
The students received the following benefits through the Launchpad program.
- Received experiential and technical learning via structured online programs.
- Got an opportunity to shadow a CEO for one month to experience the life of an entrepreneur.
- Got certified by T-Hub.
- Attended invigorating guest lectures from subject matter experts and mentors on Design Thinking, Idea Validation and Finding Your Own Customer.
- Got networking opportunities with T-Hub’s robust innovation ecosystem like entrepreneurs, investors, and corporates.
- Received internship opportunities from leading startups and corporates.
By associating with the leading colleges in the country, T-Tribe aims to deliver entrepreneurial content to the students and help them consider entrepreneurship as a career. The initiative has empowered and enabled 17000+ students in association with 21 leading institutions from across India through its various programs.
T-Tribe also recently incubated eight idea-stage startups founded by students and first-time entrepreneurs. It aims to go global in the near future and is in advanced talks with international universities for collaborations, student exchange programs and entrepreneurship certificate programs.
“Our team never thought we would actually make a video pitching our idea. Honestly, we are blown away by the tremendous response we got for our idea. Doctors (as the idea is related to the medical field) approached us, top management from Swiggy and people texted us on LinkedIn asking if the product was ready to be purchased. All this happened because of an opportunity given by T-Tribe,” said first prize winner, Darshan Kolla from VNR VJIET.
