Mumbai University to open 75 start-up clinics to encourage entrepreneurship among students | Mumbai News

With an objective to create a more diverse and vibrant ecosystem of start-ups, these clinics will handhold budding ventures by students coming from various educational backgrounds.

As per information shared by Dr Sachin Laddha, director, Innovation, Incubation and Linkages at the MU, the initiative will start with 20 each for Mumbai city and suburban districts in the initial phase followed by 15 for Thane and five each for Palghar, Sindhudurg, Raigad and Ratnagiri. Each clinic will be governed by a dedicated council led by a nominated faculty from the particular college. But its activities will not be restricted to that particular college. Instead, it will function as a start-up support for budding student entrepreneurs from colleges from the vicinity.

Dr. Laddha said, “The Startup Clinic is a programme offered by MU IDEAS for Entrepreneurs to support and empower student entrepreneurs. The programme provides resources and support, such as mentorship, networking opportunities, and access to expertise, knowledge, resources and technology available at the MU IDEAS, to help student-led startups grow and succeed. The goal of the programme is to increase diversity and inclusion in the start-up ecosystem and to provide a supportive community for student entrepreneurs.”

It will be a free virtual/physical mentorship programme which will provide resources such as mentorship, networking, and access to MU IDEAS’s expertise and technology. Apart from helping student entrepreneurs with idea, product design and technology strategy, the clinics will soon also help students reach investors for funding possibilities.

“One of the objectives of opening these clinics is to provide a direct access to varsity’s own incubator-MU IDEAS Foundation Incubation Centre located in Kalina campus, which otherwise would have been out of reach for many,” said Laddha, adding these clinics will be a joint venture between affiliated college and MU IDEAS Foundation Incubation centre. The idea, according to Dr. Laddha, is to encourage, guide and support enterprises by students coming from varied courses of higher education.

While the principal of the college will be chairperson for these clinics, it will have an in-charge faculty member. The clinics will also comprise three entrepreneurs, two faculty members who are passionate about entrepreneurship, three students and a representative nominated by Director Innovation, Incubation and Linkages at the MU.