Krea University Steps Up Efforts to Boost Student Entrepreneurship

Krea University today took a decisive step in preparing all its students to be entrepreneurial and equipping student founders in their journeys of building impact-first ventures, with the launch of the Centre for Entrepreneurship (CfE).

The CfE gets support from Catalyst which is a current accelerator that was incubated in IFMR by Niti Aayog and the Atal Innovation Mission. This innovation centre is a one of a kind in the country and it is a great step forward the university's commitment to innovation, entrepreneurship, and venture creation.

The Centre, which at it opening was greatly supported by Caratlane founder Mithun Sacheti, was inaugurated by a day, long event at the Krea University campus that brought together founders, investors, leaders, and operators from across India's startup ecosystem.The event, through panel discussions and fireside chats, reflected on the requirements for building, scaling, and sustaining ventures in the rapidly evolving world.

One of the among other formalities, Mr. Sacheti who launched the centre with the other dignitaries gave an open and honest account of his experience in creating one of India's most successful omni- channel consumer brands, Caratlane.

Emphasizing the role of wise implementation, Sacheti said, "Creating something worthwhile is a great desire, but it is also necessary to have clarity, patience, and a realistic kind of grit. Also, the founders must be brave enough to forge ahead and be willing to do the hard work whenever they are just starting to build."

Along with Mr. Sacheti, the gathering was delighted to have the presence of Mr. Mahavir Sharma (Former Chair TiE Global), Mr. Vishesh Rajaram (Managing Partner, Speciale Invest), Mr. Manish Saksena (Head of Aadyam Handwoven, Aditya Birla Group), Sujay S. & Innu Nevatia (Founders of Zwende), Mr. Vipul Sekhsaria (Founder, Kaleidofin), Mr. Amit Mehta (VC at CampusFund), Mr. Anand Sri Ganesh (CEO, NSRCEL, IIM, Bangalore) and Mr. Kapil Viswanathan (President of IFMR and Governing Member at Krea University). At the launch, Prof. Nirmala Rao, Vice, Chancellor of Krea University, highlighted Krea's vision of instilling an entrepreneurial spirit in each student, "Krea students are very fast at understanding and are enthusiastic about working on socially impactful issues which is, in fact, the primary basis for an entrepreneur's success." With its interwoven liberal education and the Business School and Research centres under one roof, the Krea ecosystem has a unique opportunity to create entrepreneurial leaders."

Mr Lakshmi Narayanan, the Chancellor of Krea University and ex, CEO of Cognizant, pointed out the role of entrepreneurship in developing leaders of the future: "Entrepreneurial skills are one of the indispensable elements for anyone aspiring to become global leaders. At Krea, learning, curiosity, courage and values come together to shape students who can build with purpose."

The Centre's vision is to evolve into a long-term institutional platform to nurture builders and innovators, encouraging students to explore entrepreneurship not only as a career path, but as a mindset that can shape leadership across domains. It would leverage extensively on the existing strength of Catalyst in running successful innovation and entrepreneurship programs at a national level, while drawing from the interwoven academic pedigree of Krea University.