A solar-powered coir machine, a smart cane for those with vision impairment, device to control wheelchairs for disabled persons. These products are about the hit the market soon.
They are some of the products developed by budding entrepreneurs with the help of S.A. Engineering College, Chennai, in the first year of operations of its innovation hub. The college has invited applications from promising candidates for the academic year 2017-18. P. Venkatesh Raja, Director, SAEC, said in the last 12-18 months, they helped at least 10 start-ups to turn their dreams into reality at the Centre for Innovation, Promotion and Entrepreneurship Development (CIPED).
The projects are in the fields of solar power, agriculture, app development and institutional mechanism among others.
The total cost of development of these projects is ₹1 crore and the funds provided by various agencies is about ₹62 lakh.
“We were surprised at the response received from budding entrepreneurs for our incubation programme. The centre has got the latest equipment. It provides free access to budding entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for mentoring, seed capital, marketing, promotion activities and cost control. Though 40 people applied for funding, mentoring and support, the Board of Governors accepted only ten of them,” said L. Vijay, General Manager, Centre for Unique Product Development and Business Incubation, SAEC.
The college has tied up with over 60 corporate houses to enable candidates to commercialise their ideas into action, besides looking at IPR.
The CIPED, located on SAEC premises in Thiruverkadu, about 20 km from the city, is supported by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, ITCOT, EDI, SIDCO, TIIC and Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust-CII.
When the project is in kick-off stage, Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust steps in to get a bank loan of ₹50 lakh without collateral for their business. MSMEs provide funding ranging from ₹2.5 lakh to ₹10 lakh per proposal.
