Niti Aayog Chariman Amitabh Kant inaugurated what is being called India’s largest startup incubation centre in the city of Hubballi. Built by Sandbox Startups, a technology business incubator, recognised by the central government, the centre consists of a built-up are of 10,000 square-feet and is can accommodate a hundred companies.
Situated near the airport, on Gokul Road, the centre covers an area of 6.09 acres of land. In addition to having all amenities for a robust startup ecosystem to flourish, the incubation centre contains full-fledged facilities including a makers lab – where one could learn and use technologies that they may not otherwise have access to – and ESDM (Electronics System Design and Manufacturing) cluster.
Reportedly, the new centre is built to foster an inclusive startup ecosystem and will serve as a platform for valuable startup ideas and act as the link to all stakeholders including mentors, investors and even early customers. The incubation centre is supposedly targeted to support startups serving semi-urban and rural populations.
“India needs disruptive innovation to tackle challenges in sectors like health, education and agriculture. We have to take a big leap in social innovation to make over 60 percent of India’s population living in rural areas a part of our growth story. Real solutions for the country’s problems should come from Tier II and III cities,” said Kant.
Not-for-profit and high social impact ventures will receive support from a dedicated team of ‘Sandbox Samvidha’. India’s largest startup incubation centre leverages an ecosystem of more than a decade set up by Deshpande Social Innovation Sandbox to provide mentoring and support to validate market, networking, industry links including access to funds and workforce required to build new-age companies.
