Guwahati, 24 November 2025: IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) has signed three strategic Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Assam Skill University (ASU), IIT Guwahati and IIT Guwahati BioNEST and The Assam Royal Global University. These partnerships significantly deepen IIMCIP’s commitment to transforming the innovation and entrepreneurship landscape of North East India by fostering a dynamic entrepreneurial ecosystem that strengthens skill development, expands incubation capacity, and enables promising ideas to evolve into successful, scalable ventures across the region.
The collaborations represent a comprehensive approach to ecosystem building, targeting both grassroots skill enhancement and high-tech incubation.
Ajay Jain, Chairman, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, said: “With these three MoUs, we are strengthening every layer of the North-East’s innovation value chain. By partnering with Assam Skill University, IIT Guwahati/BioNEST and The Assam Royal Global University, we are bringing together academic excellence, industry insight and incubation expertise into a single, integrated ecosystem. This unified effort ensures that talent across the region, whether in classrooms, research labs or early-stage ventures, has access to the mentorship, networks and opportunities needed to build impactful, scalable enterprises.”
He further said, “These partnerships reinforce our belief that the North-East can emerge as one of India’s most vibrant innovation corridors. By working closely with leading institutions across the state, we are building a connected pipeline that nurtures talent at every stage, from early ideation and hands-on product development to advanced prototyping and market readiness. Our objective is to ensure that promising ideas from the region receive the right guidance, infrastructure and exposure to grow into successful ventures.”
Strengthening Innovation Capacity Across Assam: MoU with Assam Skill University (ASU)
The MoU with Assam Skill University (ASU) aims to democratize entrepreneurship by instilling an innovation-first mindset at the academic level. This partnership will focus on:
- Establishing and Strengthening Entrepreneurship Development Cells (EDCs): IIMCIP will provide expert facilitation and mentorship to set up robust EDCs across academic institutions in Assam.
- Empowering Educators: Through specialised, free-of-cost “Train the Trainer” programs, IIMCIP will equip EDC personnel with the knowledge and tools to effectively guide aspiring entrepreneurs.
- Nurturing Early-Stage Startups: High-potential ventures emerging from these EDCs will gain access to IIMCIP’s physical or virtual incubation support, connecting them with vital mentors, experts, and investors.
Building an Integrated Innovation Pipeline: MoU with IIT Guwahati & IIT Guwahati BioNEST
Complementing the grassroots efforts, the MoU with IIT Guwahati and IIT Guwahati BioNEST is designed to create an integrated, high-impact environment for deep-tech and biotechnology startups. This collaboration will leverage the strengths of both institutions to provide unparalleled support:
- Integrated Incubation & Acceleration: The partners will collaborate on co-incubation models, offering startups shared access to state-of-the-art facilities, specialised mentorship, and critical technical resources like prototyping labs.
- Unlocking Funding & Visibility: IIMCIP’s extensive network of investors and media partners will facilitate funding opportunities and significantly enhance the visibility of promising ventures.
- Synergistic Networks: Entrepreneurs will benefit from cross-mentorship and access to the combined ecosystems of mentors, corporates and investors from both IIMCIP and IIT Guwahati.
Building the Business Prowess of Youth: MoU with The Assam Royal Global University
The partnership with The Assam Royal Global University is designed to create a vibrant culture of entrepreneurship and startup development among students. This collaboration will focus on:
- Establishing Entrepreneurship Development Cells (EDCs): IIMCIP will facilitate the creation of a formal EDC at The Assam Royal Global University, building capacity through specialised “Train the Trainer” programmes and sharing operational best practices, tools and templates.
- Fostering Innovation Through Competition: The partnership will support the institution in organising business plan contests and startup hunts to identify and nurture promising entrepreneurial ideas emerging from the student community.
- Comprehensive Incubation Support: Advanced-level startups selected through these competitions will gain access to IIMCIP’s physical or virtual incubation facilities, along with mentorship from industry experts and connections to potential investors.
Empowering Future Innovators Through Hands-On Learning: MoU with Royal Global University for Build Clubs
In a complementary initiative, IIMCIP-Technology and Innovation Council (IIMCIP-TIC), a separate Section 8 company under the IIMCIP umbrella, has partnered with The Assam Royal Global University to establish student-led “Build Clubs” on campus. This collaboration aims to foster product-building skills and entrepreneurial potential among engineering students through practical, hands-on learning experiences.
- Student-Led Innovation Hubs: IIMCIP-TIC will guide the establishment of dedicated Build Club facilities on The Assam Royal Global University campus, providing detailed setup guidelines and advisory support.
- Jumpstarting Innovation: IIMCIP-TIC will provide a starter project kit and organise kickstart workshops featuring hands-on learning sessions to launch the Build Club activities, while maintaining a dedicated website with instruction manuals, video tutorials and project resources.
- Building a Maker Community: Build Club members will connect with peers from other institutions through a virtual forum, enabling knowledge sharing, collaborative problem-solving and remote support, fostering a vibrant maker culture across the region.
- Pathways to Entrepreneurship: IIMCIP-TIC will organise periodic hackathons and competitions to stimulate product-building excitement, host demo days for students to showcase their prototypes and facilitate internship opportunities. Promising projects will be seamlessly integrated with IIMCIP’s incubation support, creating a direct pathway from student innovation to startup creation.
