Israel's PM, Inaugurates iCreate, a Center for Entrepreneurship

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in the presence of Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, inaugurated and dedicated the International Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (iCreate), in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, January 17, 2018. This is an autonomous Centre of Excellence for entrepreneurship and technology of the Government of Gujarat, at Deo Dholera, Ahmedabad.

The Campus

With a 40-acre campus, iCreate will offer ‘end-to-end solutions’ across the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem - from ideation, early prototyping, field trials, through to market penetration and growth – there are programs for innovators at each stage.  iCreate is also supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.

The campus is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities like office rooms, laboratories, auditorium and projector rooms. Also, it has residential facilities as well as offering mentors, market access and even seed funding for the projects it incubates.

The Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Vijay Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitinbhai Patel, officials from Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and iCreate  were present at the inauguration. 

The unveiling of the dedication plaque was graced by the two Prime Ministers. Mr. Dilip Shanghvi, Chairman, Advisory Board of iCreate and the six founding team members of iCreate were also present at the occasion. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel said, " I have a simple message. I want young Indians to know Israel wants to form partnerships with you. We're your partners. I want Israelis to come to India. Bachelors with a backpack but with a laptop. That's why I have come here” 

 The Function

A function took place in the midst of the iCreate campus lawns, with around 2000 attendees from diverse domains of start-ups, industry, academia, finance, mentors and the ecosystem and as imminent personalities like Gautam Adani, B. K. Goenka, Tulsi Tanti, among others. Representatives of iCreate’s domestic and international alliances like Israeli Innovation Authority (IIA), Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Cisco, Federation of Industry Chambers and Commerce (FICCI), Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association (ATIRA), among several others were also present at the event.

Parag Amin, Founder and Chief Mentor, iCreate said, “While the start-up ecosystem in India is most definitely witnessing a boom, the country still faces the need for many centers of excellence that identifies and encourages innovation, technology and entrepreneurship from all corners of the country to the forefront. iCreate aims to be that bridging gap in the promotion of techno-entrepreneurship thus addressing the need for job creation by boosting local innovation.”

India Israel Global Innovation Challenge

18 Indian and 18 Israeli winning teams of the India Israel Global Innovation Challenge, that was launched in 2017 as a bilateral innovation challenge, that called on Israeli and Indian start-ups to collaborate to develop solutions to some of the world’s most critical challenges in agriculture, water and digital health, were also felicitated. iCreate and T-Hub of Hyderabad were the two knowledge partners of this Challenge.

Finally, the event concluded with speeches by Hon’ble Prime Minister of Israel and India respectively. This was followed by an exclusive luncheon hosted by PM Modi for key invitees.

Narendra Modi in his address said, " I am happy that iCreate will help the youth of the country to fulfil their dreams, realize their innovative ideas. I am happy to know about the innovative products of iCreate.”

iCreate will be a significant building block to the ongoing strong collaboration between India and Israel, by which innovators can collaborate and create successful businesses.

Picture Credit: The Indian Express

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