So, like, there was this thing called the SRM and The Hindu’s Tamil Nadu Startup Summit 2025, which went down at Taj Coromandel, Nungambakkam, in Chennai, on Thursday. Dr. Ananth Kumar, who’s some big shot Associate Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at SRM Institute of Science and Technology, was there, talking about how students take an idea, work on it, mess with it, learn from it, and then mess with it some more. He was all like, “This cycle thing helps students grow and eventually get their idea ready for the market.” He was chatting it up with R. Sujatha, who’s a Deputy Editor at The Hindu.
Dude, they were talking about starting up incubator cells, and how they checked out a bunch of them all over the country. They figured out that the key to building a successful incubator is to play to their strengths. And SRM’s strength is all about having diverse programs, research, development, and, like, cool people. Dr. Ananth also shared a story about making a motor for an e-bike, saying it takes, like, four years to make a high-tech product, get it out there, and turn it into a legit company. He’s all about founders having grit, passion, and the ability to stick it out. They’re also trying to set up some fancy Centre of Excellence for Rural Technology at the new campus, focusing on rural and agri technology.
He went on to talk about how things were different back in the early days of Silicon Valley compared to India’s startup scene now. In the Valley, they had access to patient capital, where investors were willing to wait for returns. But in India, there’s plenty of funding available, the real challenge is finding the right problem to solve. Apparently, over 30% of Silicon Valley startups have Indian founders, so maybe we’re onto something. Who knows? Not me. But it’s all pretty interesting, right?
