IIT Kharagpur, having a wide network of alumni who are an invaluable asset to us, owes its brand to the success of its alumni. For the alumni, continuing the pleasant association with their Alma mater is an enriching experience. Through Entrepreneurship Cell's initiative of Fund a KGPian, the alumni can scout for start-ups /ideas of IIT Kharagpur. Having gained rich experiences in their journey, they will act as mentors and/or angel investors and thus promote the entrepreneurial endeavours of the young minds. This synergic bonding between the students and the alumni would be helpful in connecting the right investors with the right entrepreneurs and fulfilling the dream of an Enterprising India.

The Vision
Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Kharagpur organizes an annual business plan competition, Concipio ,which led to the rise of two successful start-ups, P2 Power Solutions and Intinno Technologies and an emerging technology of carbon capture in the cleantech sector in the last three years of its inception. In the course of conducting the competitions like Concipio, we realized that there are students who come up with ideas which have the potential, but are very broad, and some of the technology ideas don't get funding simply because they don't have a prototype. One way to tackle this situation is to get angel funding for such ideas so as to encourage the students to take the preliminary steps in developing their ideas.

Proposal for Fund a KGPian
To achieve this, we can have our alumni of IIT Kharagpur sponsoring these ideas through angel funding. The funding structure could cover the initial monetary expenses for developing the prototype. The ideas can be short listed through Concipio or Fund a KGPian programs. These ideas will then be presented to a select group of alumni in our Alumni Panel. If an alumnus likes the idea, he can provide angel funding to the team. In order to help the team develop the idea, he can provide mentorship and also introduce the participants to a wide array of contacts in his personal network.

The funding would be a big morale booster for the students, especially in their initial years in the institute. These students constitute the majority of the participants in Concipio but are mostly rejected in the first round itself due to lack of concrete vision in their ideas. The funding and mentoring would be helpful in keeping their interests alive and will be instrumental in encouraging them to move ahead with their ideas.

The industry and alumni department of E-Cell provides this very link between the enterprising amateurs and the experienced professionals. This symbiotic relationship would be mutually beneficial. We strive to be an active interface between these young minds and your esteemed selves where business ventures will be born out of your participation in our activities. Hence we sincerely hope that you will join hands with us in this endeavour and help in spreading this message to the alumni in your network. The help from the alumni would definitely help in nurturing the young minds of KGP.

For IIT Kharagpur students

The IIT Kharagpur students who are eager to get their ideas/start-ups funded by the IIT Kharagpur alumni, please send your proposed entries to fundakgpian@ecell-iitkgp.org.

For more details contact:

Mr. Shubhankit Mohan
+91 93338 46990
shubhankit.mohan@ecell-iitkgp.org