VMPL
Sri City (Andhra Pradesh) [India], February 5: Krea University today took a decisive step in preparing all its students to be entrepreneurial and equipping student founders in their journeys of building impact-first ventures, with the launch of the Centre for Entrepreneurship (CfE). The CfE will be supported by Catalyst, the existing accelerator incubated in IFMR by Niti Aayog and the Atal Innovation Mission. The centre, which is one of a kind in the country, marks a significant step in strengthening the university's focus on innovation, entrepreneurship and venture creation.
Established through generous support from Caratlane founder Mithun Sacheti, the Centre was inaugurated at a day-long event held at the Krea University campus that brought together founders, investors, leaders, and operators from across India's startup ecosystem. Through panel discussions and fireside conversations, the event explored what it takes to build, scale, and sustain ventures in today's rapidly evolving landscape.
Mr. Sacheti, who launched the centre along with other dignitaries, candidly shared insights from his journey of building one of India's most successful omni-channel consumer brands, Caratlane.
Reflecting on the importance of thoughtful execution, Sacheti remarked: "Building something meaningful requires ambition but it also requires clarity, patience and realistic grit. Additionally, the founders need to have the courage to go ahead and be ready to do the hard grind whenever you are starting to build."
Along with Mr. Sacheti, the event was graced by Mr. Mahavir Sharma (Former Chair TiE Global), Mr. Vishesh Rajaram (Managing Partner, Speciale Invest), Mr. Manish Saksena (Head of Aadyam Handwoven, Aditya Birla Group), Sujay S. & Innu Nevatia (Founders of Zwende), Mr. Vipul Sekhsaria (Founder, Kaleidofin), Mr. Amit Mehta (VC at CampusFund), Mr. Anand Sri Ganesh (CEO, NSRCEL-IIM-Bangalore) and Mr. Kapil Viswanathan (President of IFMR and Governing Member at Krea University).
Speaking at the launch, Prof. Nirmala Rao, Vice-Chancellor of Krea University highlighted how Krea aims to nurture an entrepreneurial mindset in all its students, "Krea's students are agile and willing to meaningfully engage with grand challenges, which underpins entrepreneurial success. With its interwoven liberal education and the Business School and Research centres under one roof, the Krea ecosystem has a unique opportunity to create entrepreneurial leaders."
Mr. Lakshmi Narayanan, Chancellor of Krea University and former CEO of Cognizant, highlighted the role of entrepreneurship in shaping future leaders: "Entrepreneurial skills are a vital component of becoming global leaders. At Krea, learning, curiosity, courage and values come together to shape students who can build with purpose."
The Centre's vision is to evolve into a long-term institutional platform to nurture builders and innovators, encouraging students to explore entrepreneurship not only as a career path, but as a mindset that can shape leadership across domains. It would leverage extensively on the existing strength of Catalyst in running successful innovation and entrepreneurship programs at a national level, while drawing from the interwoven academic pedigree of Krea University.
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