IT Minister KT Rama Rao with the winner of LV Prasad Eye Institute’s incubator Startup Challenge 2023 in Hyderabad on Saturday. , photo credit: arrangement
Information Technology Minister, KT Rama Rao has urged innovators to take advantage of the innovation ecosystem in Hyderabad, including T-Hub, to come up with ideas that provide solutions to everyday problems.
He said that any innovation should have social value if it is to be accepted and the focus should be on new ideas rather than copying tried and tested ideas. He was speaking at the award ceremony of LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) incubator Startup Challenge 2023 here on Saturday.
The Minister said that in today’s world capital is not an issue and people with ideas will get support from all sides. “Be original and celebrate failures” was his advice to those who could not make it to the top of the competition. Recalling the difficulties of entrepreneurship three decades ago, he said that people like BV Mohan Reddy, who founded Cyient, faced a lot of problems in raising capital, but the current generation does not.
Shri Rama Rao said that giving back to the society is a virtue and people like late LV Prasad had a vision for the society, and the world class institute that LVPEI has become is the result of the sincerity of such visions.
The winners of Startup Challenge of LVPEI incubator for startups in eye care domain were given cash prizes by the Ministers and other guests including Ajit Rangnekar, Director General, Research and Innovation Circle, Hyderabad. BVR Mohan Reddy, Founder-Chairman, Cyient, Srinivasa Rao Mahankali, CEO, T-Hub and Prashant Garg, Executive Chairman, LVPEI.
The top three winners were selected on the basis of innovation quotient, social and clinical impact and business plan merit. The winning idea received ₹5 lakh and 12 months of free incubation at LVPEI, while the first runner-up received ₹3 lakh and six months of free incubation. The second runner-up received ₹2 lakh and six months of free incubation.