IIM Calcutta Innovation Park partners with MeitY to host CONNECT.X networking meet in Guwahati

Guwahati, March 21: IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, with support from the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), organised the third edition of CONNECT.X, on March 20, 2024, at The Lily Hotel, Guwahati. Recognised as Assam’s biggest startup networking event, CONNECT.X is an effort towards building a collaborative network of startups and allied entities, fostering a unified community through meaningful engagement and enriching emerging startup founders with valuable perspectives from industry stalwarts. The event offered a unique opportunity for startup founders and professional service providers to showcase their offerings on stage and engage in one-on-one interactions during the open networking session.

With a footfall of around 100 participants, the event was attended by startup founders, professional service providers and top officials from NEDFi Venture Capital Ltd., NEHHDC, NERAMAC, TIC–IIT Guwahati and STPI, among others. A key highlight of the event was a discussion on “Navigating the Journey from Product Development to Market Launch: Best Practices and Pitfalls for Startups,” which was conducted with a panel of entrepreneurs comprising Mr. Anjan Pathak (Co-Founder, Vantage Circle), Mr. Rishi Baruah (Chief Managing Director, Pratidin Media Group), Mr. Biswajit Dey (Founder, RCHobbytech Solutions) and the entrepreneur of Shark Tank India fame, Ms. Rimjim Deka (Founder, Littlebox India). The discussion was moderated by Dr. Sriparna B. Baruah (Advisor, NEHHDC; Former Head – Centre for Industrial Extension, Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship).

Additionally, the event also witnessed a prize distribution ceremony for the winners of MeitY TIDE 2.0 Techathon – X3 (Assam Edition). The MeitY TIDE 2.0 Techathon – X3 is Northeast India’s biggest Hunt for ICT-based business ideas that celebrates the ethos of innovation and entrepreneurship. An initiative by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in association with IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, the Techathon series has been held in the major towns/cities of all Northeastern states. The three winning startups, viz., Cloket, Parv and Leofelis Instruments, walked away with cash prizes, recognition certificates and free digital credits exceeding Rs. 3 crores. They also get the opportunity to secure a MeitY grant of Rs. 7 lakhs or Rs. 4 lakhs through the MeitY EIR Fellowship and a chance to get incubated at IIM Calcutta Innovation Park.

It must be noted that CONNECT.X Hangout, a subprogram of the umbrella initiative CONNECT.X, was organised by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park last year on November 30, in association with NEDFi, and received a raving response. The event was graced by Chairman and Managing Director of NEDFi, Shri PVSLN Murty, as the Chief Guest and Mr. Nagaraja Prakasam (Partner, Acumen Fund; Founding Angel, IAN Impact) as the Guest of Honour.

IIM Calcutta Innovation Park

IIM Calcutta Innovation Park is a Section 8 company under the aegis of IIM Calcutta, focussed on fostering innovative and impactful entrepreneurs and enabling livelihood creation. It has been playing an active role in developing the entrepreneurship landscape in Northeast India since 2017 and has, to date, supported more than 750 startups from the region.

In the first phase of ecosystem development of the region, the B-School incubator collaborated with the state governments of Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram to conduct immersion programs, creating awareness about startups and instrumenting the germination of several startups from the region. Currently, it is raring for the second phase, which involves supporting the growth of revenue-stage startups and helping them scale up through funding, networking and structured mentoring support. To this end, it will be launching the North East Accelerator program very soon.