Atal Incubation Centre at Shiv Nadar University, Delhi NCR (AIC-SNU), supported by NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (Government of India), has launched the fourth edition of its ‘Venture Challenge’ – a closed-door contest for new technology start-ups or aspiring entrepreneurs to win AIC-SNU’s end-to-end support for growth of their business ideas.  

AIC-SNU has joined hands with Dassault Systèmes and HCL Technologies as Technology/Knowledge Partners to provide winners of the ‘Venture Challenge’ contest extended support from the conceptual stage to actualization of their business concepts. Both partners will help the chosen start-ups to scale their ideas, provide technical support, market guidance and access to their networks of key contacts for growth. Additionally, the best start-ups that with breakthrough/disruptive innovation, collective intelligence, or those that aim to positively impact the society will get the chance to participate in the global pitch of Dassault Systeme’s 3DEXPERIENCE Lab. Upon further selection, the winning start-ups will be accelerated by the company at global level.

Applications are invited by start-ups in fields including but not limited to:

• Robotic Process Automation, Robotic Surgery, Drones
• Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, AR/VR applications, Data Management
• Biotech & Life Sciences, Health-tech, Ed-tech
• Electric Vehicles
• Embedded Products, Edge Computing, Quantum Computing
• Marine and Petrochemical, Aerospace, Automotive

AIC-SNU will run a 12-month incubation program for the selected start-ups, during which it will provide support including physical and intellectual resources, trainings, access to industry mentors, opportunities of interactions with other business leaders, access to angel investors for capital, etc.

The selection criteria for inducting start-ups will include execution capability of founders, innovativeness of the idea, scalability, unit economics and the possible impact.

Speaking about the Incubator’s broader objectives, Anubha Bali, Managing Director of AIC-SNU, said: “Fostering an innovative and entrepreneurial culture form the cornerstones of AIC-SNU and Shiv Nadar University. Our constant endeavour remains to build knowledge for the future, to push new discoveries into the world and to positively impact lives. We are delighted to collaborate with two like-minded partners - Dassault Systèmes and HCL Technologies - to help us cradle the most promising new start-ups.”

The synergetic research and technology resources of Shiv Nadar University Delhi NCR, including access to global researchers, leading academics, 150+ cutting-edge labs and 9 research centers, among other enabling attributes, make AIC-SNU conducive for technology start-ups to thrive.

Deepak NG, Managing Director – India, Dassault Systemes, said: “At Dassault Systemes in India, it is our endeavor to empower, incubate innovative technology ideas, and develop the teams into promising business start-ups of tomorrow. The Venture Challenge’ of Atal Incubation Center- Shiv Nadar University this year will be run on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform with winning start-ups getting an opportunity to pitch their ideas in the quarterly 3DEXPERIENCE Lab pitch globally and an opportunity to be incubated and mentored in the 3DEXPERIENCE Lab network worldwide.”

Anoop Tiwari, Senior Corporate Vice President, Digital Process Operations, HCL Technologies, said: “Nurturing the millennial aspirations that drive the very foundation of the innovation ecosystem is a constant endeavour of HCL Technologies. With an increasing reliance of organizations on solutions such as RPA and AI, it is imperative that enterprises look forward to adapt and quickly innovate. HCL Technologies is delighted to collaborate with Atal Incubation Centre at Shiv Nadar University to launch Venture Challenge that will provide young entrepreneurs and budding start-ups an opportunity to showcase new technologies and their impact on our everyday lives”, said

Recently, AIC-SNU also entered partnerships with leading investors networks, Agility Venture Partners, Indian Angel Network (IAN) and 100X.VC, to help budding and new start-ups seek capital funding. AIC-SNU has already incubated more than 30 start-ups since Shiv Nadar University was awarded the prestigious Atal Incubation Center grant by the Atal Innovation Mission of NITI Aayog (Government of India) in the very first round in 2017.