iCreate is India’s only non-academic institution dedicated to fostering startups based on tech innovation into successful businesses. Started in 2012, iCreate is supported by the Government of Gujarat as well as the Government of India to facilitate ‘Next Generation Entrepreneurship’. This is not just in terms of encouraging technology startups, but also in empowering the Indian youth. This would lead to more youth pursue their own dreams and convert them into successful tech ventures, instead of seeking a job.
Be an ecosystem devoted to promoting growth of entrepreneurial capital by leveraging innovations and technology.
Such enterprises will not only create rapid growth resulting in wealth generation for self and society but also contribute to employment generation.
The incubated projects are encouraged to set up their companies in Gujarat, which would create clusters of high-tech companies and contribute to the growth of Gujarat's overall economy.
The Centre also has tie-ups with similar institutions/ incubators around the globe and network with their resources, mentors and educators.
Facilitate new-age entrepreneurial pursuits of youth focused on innovative applications for wealth generation, employment creation and global competition.
iCreate is an autonomous centre with the mandate to facilitate ‘Next Generation Entrepreneurship’ that blends creativity, innovation, engineering, product design, and leverages emerging technologies to evolve out-of-the-box applications. We aim to create quality entrepreneurs by seeding a new ethos wherein people understand and encourage entrepreneurship as a preferred career option. We also engage with the government to help evolve enabling policies.
iCreate is an institution established with a vision of developing an efficient methodology for selecting tech innovators and helping them convert into successful entrepreneurs, and in this process create a large positive impact on the nation’s economy.
It was, therefore, established as an autonomous institute with agility and market connects across the private sector, and the support and strength of the government.
Guided by the vision of Shri Narendra Modi , the Prime Minister of India and Shri N R Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, it was decided that the government would support the new entity with infrastructure and funding, while the knowledge and expertise of the innovation driven start-up ecosystem would come from corporates and professionals.
This led to the formation of GFEE (Gujarat Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence), a 50:50 joint venture between GMDC (Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation, a public sector undertaking) and GEVPF (Gujarat Entrepreneurship and Venture Promotion Foundation, a not-for-profit company registered under Section 8) founded by a team of seven experts (Late Prof N V Vasani, Dr Madhu Kumar Mehta, Mr Parag Amin, Prof B H Jajoo, Mr K Thyagrajan Iyer, Dr H Anil Kumar and Prof M C Gupta).
iCreate’s vision of 'Strategic Innovation' is meant to harness the power of best global innovation to create commercialisable breakthroughs for the big challenges confronting India. We know that while corporates have access to finances and manpower, they typically function in siloed structures and lack the nimbleness of startups. On the other hand, startups buzz with innovative ideas, but lack the ability to implement at scale. This is where iCreate comes in. We help companies fast-track innovation, with the power of collaboration.
As an example of Strategic Innovation, iCreate has signed an MoU with Israel’s Start-Up Nation Central (SNC), with the aim of creating an enabling platform for collaboration between the innovation and startup ecosystems of the two countries. Under this, iCreate collected 93 problem statements from 25 Indian companies, while SNC identified Israeli innovators who could offer cutting-edge innovation-led solutions for these problems. A cohort of 5 Israeli innovators were shortlisted, and the first India Israel Innovation Accelerator (i3A) programme was conducted, helping the participants understand Indian culture, get clarity on their product-market fit, and identify the right partners for collaboration. The outcome was extremely encouraging, with MoUs being signed for PoC validation and commercial tie-ups in sectors such as Electric Vehicles, Pharma & Chemical, Data Centres, Transport & Logistics, and Defense.
We recognize that vision, governance and execution, all play an important role in an institution’s success. Which is why we have put in place a robust, multi-tiered structure consisting of:
An Advisory Board – comprising eminent members of industry, academia and other fields – to provide the big picture and inspiration
A Statutory Board comprising senior technocrats, that ensures we have the right strategic direction and oversight
And a Team comprising of experts in various fields, who are committed to executional excellence
iCreate is one of the very few incubators in the country that has a focus on hardware based innovations, even while it encourages software projects.
Facilitating new-age entrepreneurial pursuits of youth focused on innovative applications for wealth generation, employment creation and global competition
