ASIET got recognised with the Local Entrepreneurship Advancement Programme (LEAP) from the Kerala Startup Mission. Dr. Rathan U Kelkar IAS, Secretary, Electronics & IT Govt. of Kerala handed over the LEAP Centre Card to Prof. Eldhose Sim (Nodal Officer, Adi Shankara IEDC) and Prof. Ajay Basil Varghese (Incubation Manager, Adi Shankara TBI) in the presence of Dr. R. Bindu, Hon. Minister for Higher Education and Social Justice, Dr. Saji Gopinath is the Vice-Chancellor of Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology, Shri. Anoop Ambika. Chief Executive Officer, Kerala Startup Mission on September 12, 2023, during the IEDC SUMMIT at CET Trivandrum. We are one among the 5 institutions in the state to receive the same.
LEAP will serve as the central hub for registered startups in Kerala, offering access to coworking spaces, schemes, and programmes provided by the Kerala Startup Mission. This programme is designed to streamline the support and resources available to startups, ensuring their convenience and enabling them to focus on their growth and development.
The Kerala Government's startup agency, Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), has evaluated all the innovation, entrepreneurship, and startup ecosystems developed by Adi Shankara till date through our IEDC and TBI and sanctioned the LEAP Centre. Adi Shankara IEDC was also recognised as the best IEDC in the state for the past 8 years, and it's one of the accredited IEDCs in the state that received the most prestigious Entrepreneurship Enabler Award from the Kerala Startup Mission for promoting student startups from the campus. The Technology Business Incubator (TBI) on the campus, supported by MSME, Govt. of India, is right now supporting and mentoring 12 startups from the campus in the areas of deep tech, clean tech, agritech, edutech, and green tech. The startups have already commercialised 30+ products from the campus and are expanding the same to the next level through the investment opportunities provided by TBI on campus.
LEAP also gives the IEDC the opportunity to deep dive into the respective localities, find the underlying problems, solve the problems, and develop products and startups. It gives a leeway to young budding entrepreneurs, a chance to understand their surroundings, and motivates them to identify the pain points and build solutions based on which they can set up their own startups. The programme seeks to get LSGs, other government agencies and departments, trade unions, investors, corporations, MSMEs, research institutions, etc. on board to accelerate the local entrepreneurial situation. The scope and depth of the programme help in the development of the local economy and focus on innovation-led development.
Adi Shankara LEAP (Launch, Empower, Accelerate, and Prosper).