Feb 18, 2022
Universities: Creating a Robust Startup
A startup ecosystem comprises individuals, businesses in various stages, and different organizations collaborating to build new business startup for university students in a particular area (physical or virtual). Universities worldwide play a pivotal role in creating a robust startup ecosystem. Universities have a tremendous opportunity to reach millions of people with technological, creative, and entrepreneurial abilities. The pandemic also proved that startups have the potential to save us, and colleges/universities or entrepreneurial education may be necessary for equipping students with the skills they need to succeed.
It is proven that universities can play a more significant role in helping graduates with good business ideas and the right motivation turn their aspirations into reality. Over the past several decades, entrepreneurship and enterprise education have become increasingly recognized as core components of what universities do. Entrepreneurship education supports creativity, innovation, and collaboration. The business world accords high value to these skills. VC funding to startups also depends much on these skills acquired over time through entrepreneurship education at Universities/Colleges.
Universities: Creating a Startup Universe
Universities are excellent places to jumpstart new businesses. Unusually, universities are not industry-specific. They have access to cross-sector industry leaders, academic expertise, multidisciplinary networks, intellectual capital, student talent, and unmatched entrepreneurial networks. They bring together the Humanities, Social Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Medical Sciences, and they are capable of propelling enterprises across all sectors within their ecosystem. They serve as global hubs for investment, opportunity, and partnerships because they are inherently international institutions with impact and reach beyond geographical borders. For example, they can connect businesses with startups that can help them develop and stay flexible, or they can facilitate introductions for Venture Capital and angel investors.
A progressive economy fosters an entrepreneurial culture and supports new businesses. The adoption of entrepreneurship should place equal emphasis on business and the community, specifically on education. Universities frequently serve as a creative melting pot. There is no better place to see variety than at a university, according to research demonstrating how the diversity of opinions fosters innovation. It includes variety in the background, value systems, and priorities in addition to diversity in race and nationality. Ideas and creativity primarily come from these "frictional" exchanges between people attempting to cooperate but having divergent values.
Resources are something that universities may offer; these include incubators, finance, mentoring, and assistance; a forward-thinking institution has a lot to offer entrepreneurs. Fostering an innovation ecosystem among change-makers that encourages entrepreneurship; fostering a maker culture to drive ideas; demystifying the world of starting and operating a business through training and development; business model mentoring; coaching; domain-specific mentoring; identifying and framing problems after closely collaborating with the industry; and finally, assisting in the commercialization of the technology.
Any university seeking to move forward should prioritize the following tasks: Create a platform for launching startups to make use of resources that are already available, invite industry professionals to speak as visiting faculty, schedule frequent workshops and seminars to encourage discussion, and develop a curriculum based on current market demands, encourage high risk, high reward research and facilitate early government funding of research.
Startup For University Students and Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship education at Universities teaches students essential life skills, such as collaborating and working with a team, speaking in public and preparing an effective presentation, collecting, analyzing, and using data, using social media for promotion and advocacy, and handling complex problems. These skills are also the crucial expertise an entrepreneur needs when one looks for startup funding and funds from Venture Capital firms. At the University level, students learn what it takes to develop a product or service, create unique business proposals, and give multiple pitch presentations. Skills such as problem-solving, teamwork, and empathy empower founders of startups in more than one way. Universities encourage students to figure out their passions and how to be persistent when pursuing their interests.
The Global Leaders
Incubators are now integral to many US, Canadian, Indian, and other developed and developing countries' universities. Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, University of Michigan, Tel Aviv University, University of Texas, and the University of Illinois, in that order, are the undergraduate schools that have generated the most venture capital-backed startups. With alumni having started firms like Snapchat and DoorDash, universities like Stanford are well renowned for their contribution to the startup sector.
As per PitchBook's undergraduate ranking, the San Francisco Bay area is the heart of entrepreneurship and innovation in the world. Stanford University is at the top of the 2021 list, with 1,643 founders and 1,258 companies. Stanford-linked companies raised $76.7 billion in the first round of venture capital investment. Standford is closely followed by the University of California-Berkeley, with 1,548 founders and 1,383 companies. They raised nearly $49 billion in 2021. These two universities dominate the startup ecosystem in and around Silicon Valley.
Both schools are situated in or near its influential investor Silicon Valley Startups Ecosystem. Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) swapped places in the 2021 ranking, with Harvard taking the No. 3 spot. With over 1200 founders and 1142 companies, Harvard-backed startups boast of raising $56.8 billion. However, MIT slipped a bit but closely followed Harvard. MIT-backed founders and companies raised $49.3 billion. The prestigious Universities in Berlin, such as TU Berlin, HWR Berlin, and Freie Universität, each have their innovation hubs and business incubators. The University of Toronto's Center for Entrepreneurship combines research, instruction, networking opportunities, events, and counseling for students interested in companies startup. Between 2008 and 2018, it helped over 135 startups get off the ground. 3YourMind, a 3D printing software startup, is a program graduate. It started in the university's 3D lab and gained popularity thanks to the tools and network of the innovation center. A co-working area called the Startup Incubator at HWR Berlin was created to connect creators as they take their initial steps with an idea.
Indian Institutions and Startup Incubation
Indian Institutes of Technology, commonly known as IITs with the status of deemed universities, lead in producing India's most funded startup owners. Many IIT and IIM students have turned into entrepreneurs by setting up startups. They have been the favorite of startup investors. Venture Capital firms and Angel investors are inclined to bet on founders from IITs and IIMs. From Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal of Flipkart to Deepinder Goyal of Zomato and Sriharsha Majety of Swiggy, most of India's unicorn founders too come from these colleges, according to Tracxn.
IIT Delhi has written several success stories in the startup space. Many Indian unicorn startup founders have come from this institute. IIT Delhi has an entrepreneurship development cell and Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT). The Cell has also introduced several entrepreneurship courses. In contrast, the FITT has set up Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) to provide business-planning support, access to sectoral experts for mentoring and seed capital, industry partnerships, training, and other relevant components required for supporting innovative startups. IIT Delhi's famous startup alumni include Sachin, Binny Bansal (Flipkart), and Deepinder Goyal (Zomato). In the first half of FY 2020, IIM Ahmedabad has risen to the charts with $462 million raised by startups led by founders from the college. From 2017 to 2019, IIM alumni-founded startups raised $2087 million during the same period. Deep Kalra (MakeMyTrip) and Sanjeev Bikchandani (Naukri.com) are two famous alumni.
Similarly, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IIT Roorkee, and other institutions contributed significantly to promoting entrepreneurship. The only non-IIT and IIM college on the list, BITS Pilani alumni-founded startups have raised $206 million in the first six months of 2020.
To conclude, Tony Blair, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has rightly pointed out, "Entrepreneurship will become a core skill which all our young people will need to exploit the opportunities..."