Union Minister for Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan launched the ‘Ministry of Education – AICTE Investor Network’. The MoE – AICTE Investor Network is an initiative jointly established by AICTE and the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC) to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the education sector. 

According to an official statement, the network aims to provide crucial financial support, mentoring and strategic guidance to early-stage student or faculty-led startups. Through this, the statement added, the Ministry of Education seeks to encourage private investment in student- and faculty-led startups. The platform aligns with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to create a vibrant ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship.

“The MoE-AICTE Investor Network is launched to empower educational institutions to become innovation hubs, fostering a conducive environment for start-up development, facilitating entrepreneurship by transforming innovative ideas into scalable and sustainable businesses and providing startups with essential resources, mentorship, seed capital, and potential investors,” it added.

This Investor Network also aims to bridge the gap between investors and transformative educational initiatives, fostering collaboration for the advancement of education and technology.

For the effective onboarding of investors, framing the policy and developing a strategic flow of the ‘MoE-AICTE Investor Network’, the official statement added, a 10-member steering committee has also been established under the chairmanship of Dr Abhay Jere. The committee is formed to facilitate the onboarding of 100 investors with diverse profiles, draft and develop policy documents and working guidelines, create funding guidelines and parameters for the investors, prepare the eligibility criteria for startups and innovators seeking funding, monitor and track the progress of funded projects etc.