10 new unicorns may fly out of Telangana soon
HYDERABAD: The Telangana government will launch an initiative this week which aims to create about 10 unicorns in the next five years to a decade. The unicorns would create social impact and wealth.
Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad (RICH), headed by former Indian School of Business dean Ajit Rangnekar, is a platform designed to connect academic and research institutions in Hyderabad with entrepreneurs.
The idea is to allow startups and established companies to collaborate with research and academic institutions in development and commercialisation of innovative products from the fields of healthcare and pharmaceuticals, agriculture and aerospace. After the platform succeeds in Telangana, the plan is to expand it across India and possibly overseas to Africa, said Rangnekar.
He said that the team plans to reach out to at least 100 startups and established companies from all three sectors within the first six months.
The objective is to create a vehicle to take research into the market since some of the products by research institutes could get used on a massive scale.
"To me, a unicorn will not just be somebody who makes billions, but somebody who impacts millions of lives," said Rangnekar, director general, RICH. "I expect at least 10 social unicorns to come out of this initiative in the next three years and 10 financial unicorns in five to 10 years."
The Telangana government will invest about Rs 5 crore per year in the platform to support administrative and other expenses.
"Our overall vision is to make Telangana state a globally attractive destination through research to innovation, innovation to industry and industry to prosperity," said the state IT minister KT Rama Rao. "The state is creating collaborative mechanisms like RICH between entrepreneurs, businesses, investors, educational and research institutes to achieve this vision."
Some of the academic and research institutions that are part of RICH include Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Indian School of Business, Nalsar University of Law, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, and LV Prasad Eye Institute.
Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad (RICH), headed by former Indian School of Business dean Ajit Rangnekar, is a platform designed to connect academic and research institutions in Hyderabad with entrepreneurs.
The idea is to allow startups and established companies to collaborate with research and academic institutions in development and commercialisation of innovative products from the fields of healthcare and pharmaceuticals, agriculture and aerospace. After the platform succeeds in Telangana, the plan is to expand it across India and possibly overseas to Africa, said Rangnekar. He said that the team plans to reach out to at least 100 startups and established companies from all three sectors within the first six months.
The objective is to create a vehicle to take research into the market since some of the products by research institutes could get used on a massive scale.
"To me, a unicorn will not just be somebody who makes billions, but somebody who impacts millions of lives," said Rangnekar, director general, RICH. "I expect at least 10 social unicorns to come out of this initiative in the next three years and 10 financial unicorns in five to 10 years."
The Telangana government will invest about Rs 5 crore per year in the platform to support administrative and other expenses.
"Our overall vision is to make Telangana state a globally attractive destination through research to innovation, innovation to industry and industry to prosperity," said the state IT minister KT Rama Rao. "The state is creating collaborative mechanisms like RICH between entrepreneurs, businesses, investors, educational and research institutes to achieve this vision."
Some of the academic and research institutions that are part of RICH include Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Indian School of Business, Nalsar University of Law, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, and LV Prasad Eye Institute.
