IIT-M Incubation Cell, Mahindra Pride host Startup Job Utsav, rural candidates become job ready

The Startup Job Utsav is a placement drive featuring over 40 startups and over 500 students to address the growing need for young talents among the startup ecosystem and under-utilized talent from rural Tamil Nadu.

IIT Madras Incubation Cell with IITM Research Park & TiE-Chennai, organized the first edition of ‘Startup Job Utsav, in collaboration with Titan LeAP & Mahindra Pride Classroom,  with the objective of connecting  IITM incubated start-ups & MSMEs in Chennai to new engineering talent pool from rural Tamil Nadu.

Flagged off in 2017, Mahindra Pride Classrooms have till date delivered the Enhancing Employability Skills module through 1307 classrooms to 56,380 students of select University /Colleges /Polytechnics /ITIs in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana & Andhra Pradesh.  The Enhance and employability skills module focus on skill upgradation, through modules on English Speaking, Life Skills, Aptitude, Interview, Group Discussion and Digital Literacy for a duration of 54 hours.

Over 40 technology startups from the IITM Incubation Cell and the IITM Centres of Excellence participated in the event, held on 18th May 2019, at the IIT Madras Research Park. The event provided a platform for Startups to utilize the aspiring & smart minds from various Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities of Tamil Nadu.

While inaugurating the event, Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Co-Chairman, IITMIC and IITMRP, said, "Today, the best minds of the country are either working in startups or leading one and IIT Madras has by far the best startup ecosystem. Every startup coming out of here is totally unique and really touching the sky. This is your time to get into them, make a difference to your life first, then to the startups and then to the country”

Over 500 Engineering Graduates (2019 batch) from technology institutes from rural towns in TamilNadu, affiliated to Anna University across disciplines, explored the various job opportunities at the event. Graduates were pre-trained by Mahindra Pride Classroom on Employability & Life Skills.

Addressing the gathering, V. Shankar, President, TiE-Chennai & Director, IITMIC Board, said, "There are several employability skills that students need to know to be job ready. I am very pleased to see how Mahindra Pride, with their employability program & life skills program, is imparting these invaluable skills to the generation today.”

The startups that participated in the event spanned various sectors including, manufacturing, automobiles, electric vehicles, robotics, Internet of Things, Agritech, Solar-DC, HealthTech, Biotechnology, AI/ML/AR-VR/Data Sciences, Edtech, Water, Waste and Consumer Tech.