Twenty-four-year-old IITian Ankit Mehta dreamed of inventing a hand-held mobile charger which would just operate on kinetic energy instead of electricity.
Twenty-four-year-old IITian Ankit Mehta dreamed of inventing a hand-held mobile charger which would just operate on kinetic energy instead of electricity. But giving shape to his dream drained all his resources and left him virtually broke.
However, while looking for a partner who would put up some money for his venture, he stumbled across help in the form of the Technopreneur Promotion Programme (TePP).
Developed to promote independent innovators, TePP provides financial grants to individuals from any field so that they can develop their ideas into working models. “The main aim of this programme is to fill the gap where independent innovators can get funding to develop their ideas. Often individuals need a helping hand, and this is where TePP steps in. It helps transform dreams on paper into reality,” says AS Rao an advisor in the TePP.
Once an individual’s application is approved, he/she can get a grant up to Rs10 lakh. Professor Amarnath, Chairman of the Technopreneur Promotion Programme’s screening committee says, “After the application is submitted, it is sent to experts in the respective field. It is then forwarded to the screening committee along with the expert’s recommendation. Only then will the application be approved, if it is feasible. The amount is released within four to five months.”
Mrinmayee Bhushan, 35, a Pune resident, developed a moisture-based permanent hair removing cream called Hairominator. If marketed, her product would give tough competition to laser treatments which provide permanent hair removal solutions. But she needed more funds to take her product to the second stage of the development process. To her dismay, the banks she approached demanded mortgages. “Initially, my husband was funding my research, but to develop it further I needed a loan. All the avenues were closed to me,” she recalls. “Fortunately, I came to know about TePP and after following a simple procedure, the grant was approved. Now I can research and develop my product further, and market it in the future,” she said.
There are many others like Mrinmayee and Ankit who successfully transformed their dream into reality. Since its establishment in 1998, TePP has funded 187 people.
With the establishment of regional centres, the programme aims at funding at least 1,000 individuals a year and is also tying up with local business incubators to help innovators set up a business and market their products successfully.
TePP has recently established a regional centre in partnership with SINE at the IIT-Bombay campus.
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