Hans News Service Visakhapatnam

Markingthe centenary celebrations of Andhra University, a major step towards fostering innovation and entrepreneurship was taken with the launch of the Pre-Incubation Centre– Innovation and Entrepreneurship Cell (IE-CELL) in Visakhapatnam.

After inaugurating the facility at the innovation conclave organised on Thursday, Vice-Chancellor GP Raja Sekhar emphasised that the IE-CELL would serve as a dynamic platform to nurture creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit across diverse fields. He highlighted the university’s vision to transform students into not just job seekers but job creators by building a strong ecosystem that supports ideation, experimentation and enterprise development.

Established under the aegis of the Institution Innovation Council, the IE-CELL is set to drive structured and impactful programmes such as Proto-Run, Founders Connect and Enterprise CaseX, offering mentorship and guidance to aspiring innovators.

Adding further momentum to this initiative, the VC announced the prestigious ‘Centenary Innovation and Impact Grant,’ which will provide financial assistance of up to Rs. 5 lakh to promising startups in key sectors, thereby encouraging students to translate their ideas into viable ventures.

Professors K Ramasudha, M. Sashi, Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, Shankar Prakriya, M. R. Madhav and Mohan Kancherla along with student leaders Vinay Kumar Tadele, Jaswanth, and Neeraj were present.