The thingQbator programme — a Cisco and nasscom basis initiative — nurtures younger innovators by offering mentorship, funding, and sources to unravel societal points utilizing expertise. Since 2018, it has incubated over 58 startups, addressing challenges in schooling, agriculture, psychological well being, and accessibility, empowering college students to grow to be job creators and future-ready entrepreneurs.
This text is sponsored by nasscom basis
How do you assist a visually impaired particular person navigate via busy cities?
How do you assist kids handle their psychological well being points?
How do you resolve agricultural points like post-harvest losses and illness assaults on crops in rural India?
These are a few of the drawback statements startups incubated at thingQbator, have solved utilizing expertise. This programme has enabled college students to remodel their concepts into thriving ventures via steerage, mentorship, and funding — encouraging them to grow to be job creators slightly than job seekers.
A CSR initiative by Cisco, in partnership with nasscom basis below the Social Innovation For Youth (SIFY) initiative, thingQbator supplies a platform for younger minds to be nurtured and remodeled into future-ready creators.
This platform serves as a ‘thoughts fitness center’, the place college students can interact in a dynamic studying cycle enriched with mentorship programmes and workshops. These programmes cowl a variety of matters — from present to rising applied sciences and entrepreneurial expertise — making certain individuals are well-prepared for the complexities of recent enterprise and technological landscapes.
Rostow Ravanan, chairperson of nasscom basis, highlights, “At nasscom basis, we imagine within the transformative energy of expertise and innovation to handle urgent societal challenges. thingQbator is a testomony to this perception, offering younger innovators with the instruments, mentorship, and sources they should flip their concepts into impactful options. From enhancing agricultural practices to empowering the visually impaired, a few of the improvements are inspiring and underscore the significance of nurturing the following technology of problem-solvers.”
Over the previous six cohorts, greater than 3,800 distinctive concepts have been submitted to the programme, ensuing within the improvement of over 360 prototypes. These efforts have fostered the creation of 58 startups, 28 of which have obtained seed grants of Rs 5 lakh, together with incubation help.
Let’s delve into the transformative journeys of a few of these startups.
Cultivating minds and fields
Within the coronary heart of rural India, the place instructional sources are sometimes restricted, ‘CoGrad’ is on a mission to deliver high quality schooling to the forefront. This startup is making a community of inexpensive, tech-enabled faculties that bridge the academic divide. By way of a mix of educated lecturers, teacher-assistive AI, and a unified studying platform, CoGrad is remodeling the training expertise for college students.
Think about a classroom the place youngsters, beforehand restricted by their geographical constraints, now have entry to a world of knowledge and technological coaching. With over 50,000 college students already benefiting from their programmes, CoGrad is empowering the following technology of rural India with the instruments to reach a digital world.
In the meantime, ‘Agrichikitsa’ addresses agricultural challenges by introducing built-in and technology-based farming practices in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. By establishing Agri Chikitsa Centres on the Gram Panchayat stage, this startup is introducing built-in and technology-based farming practices to native farmers. These centres are a beacon of hope for farmers grappling with post-harvest losses, pests, weeds, and crop illnesses.
By way of good farming strategies, over 600 farmers have already seen a 20 p.c enhance of their earnings. These centres provide essential data on Built-in Vitamins Administration (INM), Built-in Pest Administration (IPM), and Crops Well being Administration (CHM), equipping farmers with the data to domesticate more healthy, extra worthwhile crops.
Empowering the visually impaired and nurturing psychological wellbeing
Within the bustling metropolis of Noida, ‘Notion.ai Non-public Restricted’ is harnessing the ability of generative AI to digitally empower the visually impaired. This startup provides a collection of instruments designed to foster independence and improve employability among the many visually impaired neighborhood. Their platform supplies programs on the most recent software program and an assistant bot that guides customers via their studying journey.
By facilitating job alternatives and enabling people to discover and be taught new applied sciences, Notion.ai is breaking down obstacles and making a extra inclusive society. The startup’s efforts are geared in the direction of making certain that visually impaired people are usually not simply individuals however leaders within the digital age.
Addressing the often-overlooked realm of psychological well being, ‘Raahee’ is making important strides in offering accessible help and remedy. By way of its empathetic and humanist strategy, Raahee’s platform provides an software and web site that join customers with therapists from throughout the nation. With over 1,000 customers already benefiting from their providers, Raahee is advancing the essential social trigger of creating psychological healthcare inexpensive and dismantling its related stigma.
The thingQbator programme
‘thingQbator’ started in 2018 as a maker house for Cisco’s engineers to don their innovation caps and remodel their concepts into working prototypes. The success of this inside incubator prompted the corporate to scale it up in partnership with nasscom basis and open it to universities throughout the nation to advertise entrepreneurship.
The initiative encompasses a four-stage programme, nurturing the transformation of concepts into thriving ventures. From the ideation stage to incubation, the highest 10 groups are granted a seed fund of Rs 5 lakh, marking the transition of their social ventures into actuality.
The seventh version of thingQbator is presently underway, mentoring and nurturing undergraduate and postgraduate college students with a imaginative and prescient aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Growth Objectives (SDGs).
Other than incubating new startups, thingQbator additionally provides a myriad of studying alternatives for college students throughout the nation. This studying platform provides over 18 programs in {hardware} and software program that college students can full at their comfort to boost their technical expertise. This platform is on the market to all college students who register. The programs cowl a variety of matters — from constructing apps utilizing Flutter to creating web sites, internet improvement expertise, and dealing with Raspberry Pi 3 — offering a excessive stage of technical understanding.
Over 30,000 course completion certificates have been issued, and over 16,000 distinctive college students have obtained course completion certificates as of March 2024.
By offering a platform that transcends entrepreneurial incubation, thingQbator is empowering younger Indians to grow to be the driving drive behind expertise and innovation. This initiative serves as a robust catalyst, propelling the imaginative and prescient of a technologically superior and socially empowered India into actuality.
“I really imagine it’s essential to ignite the imaginations of younger minds, and universities and different instructional establishments are the best environments to encourage them to discover new concepts. And that’s what we goal to do via our thingQbator programme – we collaborate with universities to determine and mentor younger minds, serving to them form and understand their entrepreneurial aspirations. This initiative isn’t just about nurturing startups, it’s about empowering the following technology of innovators to create impactful options for the longer term,” mentioned Harish Krishnan, Managing Director & Chief Coverage Officer, Cisco India & SAARC.
Edited by Padmashree Pande & Pranita Bhat; All photos courtesy nasscom basis
