PM Modi has turned the spirit of Innovation and Entrepreneurship into a festival in India, say Young and Budding Entrepreneurs

More than 50 startups make a pitch to Shark Tank Judge and Entrepreneur, Anupam Mittal to mark the 'National Startup Day 2025' celebration at Chandigarh University

CHANDIGARH, India, Jan. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On the occasion of National Startup Day, Chandigarh University hosted SANDBOX 2025, a flagship event to celebrate the entrepreneurial ecosystem of North India and showcase the groundbreaking innovations, foster meaningful collaborations among startups, investors, industry leaders as well as aspiring entrepreneurs, with Shark Tank India judge and Shaadi.com Founder, Anupam Mittal, as Chief Guest to mentor budding entrepreneurs.

Hosted by Chandigarh University Technology Business Incubator (CU-TBI), with the theme, 'Empowering Visionaries, Redefining Tomorrow,' SANDBOX 2025 received an overwhelming response with over 1000 registrations by start-ups for the event. Of the 250 viable startups shortlisted from the total registrations from 45 cities all across the country, including cities like Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, 50 selected startups, including 17 startups based on Artificial Intelligence, were exhibited during the event. Out of these 50 startups covering a range of fields including business, content, health care and agriculture, the top 10 startups including Capeels, Innow8, Akarshana, Carewell 360, Ashya Pro 6, Medoc, Weaving Dreams, DCS Pro, Clienthals and Resolex, received the opportunity to pitch before Shark Tank India judge and Shaadi.com Founder, Anupam Mittal. On this occasion, young entrepreneurs said that PM Modi has turned spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship into a festival in India by declaring January 16 as National Startup Day to honour the creativity, resilience and determination of country's innovators and entrepreneurs.

Prominent among those who attended, the event included Satnam Singh Sandhu, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Chandigarh University Chancellor, Sanjiv Sethi, MD, Gilard Electronics Pvt, Ayush Bagga, T-HUB Head, Government Relations, Ankit Saxena, IIT Delhi, Director, DS Centre of Entrepreneurship, Narender Verma, CII Executive Manager, Founder and Chief AI Officer, VK Sharma, CDAC Director, Shailendra Tyagi, STPI Director at Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Ministry of Electronics & IT, Government of India, Munish Jauhar, Nasscom, Founder and CEO of GrayCell Technologies.

On the occasion, Shark Tank India judge and Shaadi.com Founder, Anupam Mittal, said that in the past decade, there is a manifold increase in the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in India. "The biggest reason for this is our government which has created many new opportunities to encourage our youth. An entrepreneur does not wait for an opportunity; he rather creates an opportunity on his own. I am sure that the in-born entrepreneurship skills in Indians will make them the top entrepreneurs of the world in upcoming 10 years," he added.

"One of the interesting aspects of our culture and civilization is that we have always been entrepreneurs. We have created many things in our country and given them to the world. So the entrepreneurship is there in us Indians by birth. We just have to think about it, understand it and recognize it. This is the reason why many of our entrepreneurs are the best at the world level. I just want to tell the youth that you should not just think about becoming an entrepreneur, you should rather aim to become the best entrepreneur in the world," Mittal added.

Member of Parliament and Chancellor, Chandigarh University, Satnam Singh Sandhu, said, "India's startups have witnessed a golden era in past 10 years under PM Modi's leadership. Startup supportive policies have made India a nation of technology and ideas which is evident from the fact that today, India is the world's 3rd largest startup ecosystem with over 1.57 lakh startups and 110 unicorns. Under PM Modi's leadership, the number of startups in India surged to over 1.57 lakh from 350 in 2014, creating over 16 lakh jobs across various sectors. These startups are playing a crucial role in making India self-reliant under PM Modi's leadership. India's youth today are becoming job-providers instead of job-seekers. This way, startups are playing a pivotal role in India's journey towards becoming a Viksit Bharat by 2047 with right decisions taken at the right time, which have helped startup networks go beyond metropolitan boundaries to more than 600 districts across the nation. India's commitment to nurturing startups is reflected in the allocation of over Rs. 10,000 crore through the Startup India initiative over the past decade. With 67,000 startups having at least one-woman director, India is cultivating a dynamic and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in which women lead more than 45 percent of startups to place India in the global arena."

"As a Research-Intensive University, Chandigarh University remains focused on research and innovation by fostering an entrepreneurial ecosystem which encourages its students to innovate new technologies and unlock boundless opportunities for growth. Ever since the inception of Chandigarh University, CU students have created over 150 Start-Ups. Chandigarh University's Technology Business Incubator (CU-TBI) is mobilizing Rs. 5 crore to catalyze growth in the startup ecosystem at CU. This initiative brings together key stakeholders from Chandigarh University and venture capital partners to empower innovative startups and foster entrepreneurship," Sandhu added.

Participating in a panel discussion on startups, Sanjeev Sethi, MD, Gillard Electronics Pvt. Ltd., said, "Times have changed now, few years back, the concept was that those who got a degree would get employment and those who did not would become entrepreneurs. Soon society and nation realized that entrepreneurship is very important for the country and nation. And an uneducated entrepreneur can go only up to a level, so there is a need for people with degrees to also become entrepreneurs. Earlier there was no focus on entrepreneurship. The present time is a good time for future entrepreneurs, as things have become easier now. The country has realized the importance of entrepreneurship and startups. All it takes to succeed is an idea, then a plan and then implementation to make it successful. The idea (startup) should be kept in a larger perspective."

Aayush Bagga, Head, Government Relations, T-Hub, said, "We as an incubator have to understand what our role is, what our objective is in supporting the right startups and whether it is qualitative or quantitative that we want to achieve. To simplify, there are certain parameters, certain metrics that we have formulated to support the right startups. First of all, we definitely need to understand what the difference between a traditional business and a startup is. Every startup and every founder should always have their own advisory board. The founder can always have their own personal advisory board. From there, we can get the right inputs. So in this way, inspiring mentors are very important because entrepreneurship is a journey. As far as I have experienced entrepreneurship, it all happens gradually."

Munish Jauhar, Founder and CEO of GrayCell Technologies, and one of India's top 100 Angel Investors (Fortune India), said, "In the past, Indians were always looked up on as coders, basically people you would outsource work to, you would give a set of instructions that they would prove. But now, the things are changing very, very rapidly. We see numerous startups coming out of this region as well. I don't see anything that is going to withhold India back now. We have a plethora of very high quality education, not only at graduate, under graduate, or postgraduate level. So we cover it all. We have an angel investment group in Punjab. We have a very strong otherwise entrepreneurial ecosystem."

Ankit Saxena, Director, DS Centre Of Entrepreneurship, FITT, IIT Delhi, said, "The way technology has disrupted the entire ecosystem, we are seeing success stories coming at very early years of any individual now. We have seen that when as an entrepreneur comes up with an idea, which is driven by technology, they not only create jobs within their venture, but they also end up creating a platform which creates more entrepreneurs."

"If you want to try out entrepreneurship, you can do some internships with some existing startups to understand how a startup works. Because entrepreneurship is also a very tricky subject. You have to create something new, something very disruptive to be very successful, if you want to create a scalable business," he added.

About Chandigarh University

Chandigarh University is a NAAC A+ Grade University and QS World Ranked University. This autonomous educational institution is approved by UGC and is located near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab. It is the youngest university in India and the only private university in Punjab to be honoured with A+ Grade by NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council). CU offers more than 109 UG and PG programs in the field of engineering, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, journalism, animation, hotel management, commerce, and others. It has been awarded as The University with Best Placements by WCRC.

Website address: https://www.cuchd.in/

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