Entrepreneurship, Disruption, Innovation: The mammoth tasks of a student-run start-up accelerator

Conquest was launched in 2004

What do Swiggy, Big Basket, Red Bus, Postman, Pixxel and Groww have in common? If your answer is “innovation” you will get some points. The correct answer is: All of these disruptive startups were founded by alumni of BITS Pilani. There are currently 25 startups on campus working in different sectors such as tech, content, finance and IT. With the growing importance of BITS startups in India and around the world, we’re trying to find out what makes the entrepreneurial spirit at this leading engineering college.

The roots

Conquest was launched in 2004 and started as a B-Plan competition in Pilani. It was started with the vision of being a platform on which a founder who is passionate enough to bring about disruptive innovations is led to success.

“In 2011 and 2012 we moved the event to Delhi and in 2018 to Bangalore. With the old model of conquest, we saw our scope of action as limited and had the potential to do more. What followed was a period of rigorous brainstorming and planning, and we came up with a complete overhaul and eventual transition to a start-up accelerator program in 2019, ”says Aritra Guru, CEO of Conquest.

What is it?

The program is run by the college’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) initiative and aims to provide young startups with a platform to network with investors and industry leaders and learn how to become the next big success story .

While the event receives over 1000 registrations, the top 15 go through a four-week online program and the top 10 go through a one-week accelerator program that includes fundraising and pitching sessions run by the investment and VC partners.

“The top 10 startups then pitch in front of our jury, investors, industry leaders and media houses. And the winner receives a cash prize without shares, ”explains Guru. While the 2021 edition of Conquest is currently underway, some of the previous success stories that emerged from the event are namely SocialCops, Trell and Buddy4Study.

How do the students benefit?

The team that conducts the event is given full freedom by the institute and all processes are completely controlled by students – from finding sponsors for the prize money to concluding deals with various partners to handling the logistics of the entire event.

With co-founders, product managers, CXOs, marketing managers, etc. from various start-ups in the mentoring panel, the participants and the student organizing committee build their network and stay in touch.

“The goal is to maintain a community made up of our huge network of stakeholders that we develop in every issue. As the first student-run accelerator in India, we stay connected to the top colleges, which are hubs for fresh ideas, ”says Guru.

The need for start-up accelerators

Many Indian startups crash before they can really take off. Without the knowledge and guidance of industry experts, young start-ups are left to their own devices. “The supportive framework that start-ups need to be really successful is catching up with the booming entrepreneurship of the country,” says Guru.

For the 2020 edition, Conquest has worked with sponsors and partners such as Canbank VC, Accel Partners, Chiratae Ventures, and others. Such names can only ensure that the gap between founding and success is closed.

Also at IIT Bombay, SINE – a Business Incubator ‘Start to Scale’ offers support for technology-based startups / innovators and facilitates the conversion of research into entrepreneurial ventures. The IIT Madras incubation center is also recognized by Startup India as a Technology Business Incubator.

Be vigilant when such student initiatives are on the rise! Maybe the next Vijay Shekhar Sharma or Deepinder Goyal will sit next to you in class!

source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/entrepreneurship-disruption-innovation-the-mammoth-tasks-of-a-student-run-start-up-accelerator/