The culture around entrepreneurship has been growing at an astonishing rate in the past few years. BITS, being one of the few visionary institutions in this country, has been investing in ways and means to foster the “start-up culture” on campus. One such initiative is the erection of a new incubation centre near the SR Bhawan. The English Press Club sat down with Dr Arya Kumar—Dean, Alumni Relations—who has been directly supervising the establishment of the new building, to discuss the details regarding this facility.

The operations of this building, like those of the pre-existing incubator, will come under PIEDS—Pilani Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Society, who will be playing an administrative role. This new facility will cover a total area of 20,000 sq. feet and will consist of three floors. The ground and first floor will be used solely for the purpose of incubation. The current plans include seven labs in this facility, each pertaining to a specific field, such as FinTech, AI/ML, AR/VR, and IoT tinkering. The labs will be open to students 24/7, with each one being assigned to a faculty-in-charge. The in-charges have already submitted a five-year plan for their respective labs. Dedicated student teams will take up various projects in these labs to gain more domain experience so that they can be equipped to work for different start-ups. Dr Kumar feels that this centre would be an amalgamation of various fields, all under one roof. The entire facility is being funded by alumni and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR). 

When asked about the need for a new incubation centre, Dr Kumar said that the students of BITS have always been exemplary at coming up with new ventures that generate immense revenue. BITSians have founded more than 7,500 companies, of which the top fifteen have a cumulative market capitalisation of USD 55 billion. This fact itself serves as a testament to the potential that lies in students of BITS and he felt that this was the right time to nurture it. He also mentioned that when it comes to finding hardcore solutions, there is a requirement for deeper knowledge in design, crystallisation into the market, and maintaining product quality. PIEDS would bring in experts to act as mentors to the students, and guide them through the different stages of building a start-up—right from incorporating a company and building a founding team to approaching investors. He also commended the role BITSAA plays in nurturing and supporting the entrepreneurial ecosystem on campus.

According to Dr Kumar, this new facility will boost the quality of successful ventures coming out of BITS. He feels students would grow more confident in trying out new ideas in multiple fields. Moreover, the total number of ventures is also expected to rise. He feels that in order to lead a successful venture, one needs a team with multidisciplinary backgrounds, such as finance, analytics, and technology. BITS is one of the few institutes in this country that can produce a team that fulfils such a requirement. Dr Kumar is positive we will witness a boom in the number and quality of ventures coming out of the institute. He feels that BITSians would play a huge role in increasing wealth and employment in India.