North-Eastern Hill University is to launch a social enterprise incubator called Incubation Centre with funding from government investors including the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development, Northeast Now reported on Sunday.
Other government backers include the Ministry for Development of North-Eastern Region, economic and social development agency North Eastern Council, institutional funding body University Grants Commission and the Meghalaya state government.
The university hopes the Incubation Centre will lead to more impact startups that improve living standards for disadvantaged groups by making high-quality products available at an affordable price.
North-Eastern Hill expects to sign a memorandum of understanding for the plan with Meghalaya’s government through an existing partnership with Meghalaya Institute of Entrepreneurship (MIE), the government’s arm for promoting entrepreneurship.
The incubator will provide capital and mentoring over one or two years for entrepreneurs with a sustainable social business model.
It will be led by chief patron SK Srivastava, the vice-chancellor of North-Eastern Hill, with SR Rao, a professor in the biotechnology and bioinformatics department, acting as chairman. A six-person steering committee will oversee the incubator.
