 The Vellore Institute of Technology’s E Cell membership had stagnated at 80. And they ran no entrepreneurship events – zero. Then in 2008, VIT joined NEN, a new team formed, and Raman was elected Co-President. The turnaround began.
Within one year, the membership grew to over 500. While the E Cell ran activities to build interest, one of Raman’s key insights was to connect the E Cell to the incubator flourishing on campus.
First, the VIT-NEN E Cell did publicity of Technology Business Incubator’s annual Business Idea competition MyIdea: registrations increased from 40 to over 200 and it has become a tri-annual affair.
Earlier, only one of the seven incubatee companies employed students. Today, two companies are completely student-run, and two more incubatees offer exciting internships.
The lack of other NEN institutes in Vellore meant Raman had to network a new way: he formed the only student-only Open Coffee Club. “Students need opportunities to grow, and our E Cell, TBI and OCC are much in demand because they offer interesting avenues for them to explore,” Raman explains.
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