A great idea or even a technology cannot launch a product if customers don’t want it.
At the Indian Institute of Technology - Madras, students who have an idea must now not only think through the product but also find if they can get customers before they launch their start-up. The Gopalkrishna Deshpande Centre recently hosted i-ncubate, a seven-week training programme for budding entrepreneurs, with U.S.-based George Washington University.
Seven teams were short-listed for the training and after hearing them, the teams were told to identify their customers. For Ramya Selvaraj, a Ph.D scholar and her team, Enviro, it was a learning experience.
Enviro had come up with an idea to tackle plastic waste. The team, whose project won ₹10 lakh as seed money in an earlier contest, realised that it was necessary to understand not just the direct benefit of their product but also indirect benefit. “We realised that we could save the municipality transport expenses,” Ms. Ramya said.
Robot to detect leaks
Ajay Raj, who graduated in 2016 with a dual degree in mechanical engineering, has developed a robot that can detect leaks in pipelines.
Mr. Raj’s product will be tested by the institute to check for leaks in its water pipes. He is confident the robot will be used by oil companies ultimately. The technology is available abroad but it is expensive.
The idea of i-ncubate is to get the students and the professors, who are the lead investigators “out of the building and into the market place” said R. Raghuttama Rao, chief executive officer, GDC.
“What is the point in developing a product if no one is going to buy it?”
