IIT alumnus launches accelerator to help IIT startups in US

An Indian Institute of Technology Madras alumnus has launched a non-profit accelerator at the Bay Area in San Francisco, America.
The initiative is to provide mentorship, incubation and other necessary support to the budding entrepreneurs and to connect the IIT alumni at the Silicon valley in America.
Called 'IIT Startups,' the accelerator has been founded by Monishi Sanyal, a B Tech graduate from IIT Madras and the Governors Gold medal Recipient in 1970, an IIT Madras release here said today.
It was recently launched at the Computer History Museum, at California. The event was attended by over 400 IIT Startups, Angels, Venture Capitals and Mentors.

Speaking about the objectives behind launching the accelerator, Sanyal said, "This is the first step in our journey to build a world class accelerator. Our next steps are to run workshops, provide mentorship, incubation and connectivity to the 11,000 plus IIT Community, Advisors, Angels and VCs in the Silicon Valley."
While the IITiians were very strong technically, their major weaknesses were in fund raising and business development, he said.
In 2019, the plan is to expand the operations by collaborating with the IIT research parks in India, he added.
On the initiative, Dean (International and Alumni Relations), IIT Madras, Prof R Nagarajan, said, "Alumni such as Sanyal have been instrumental in shaping the best-of-breed entrepreneurial ecosystem that thrives in Silicon Valley. IITs have benefited as well from the branding and networking opportunities.