India’s first innovation centre launched at Nizamabad, Telangana

India’s first innovation centre, the Kakatiya Hub for Social Innovation was launched at Nizamabad, Telangana recently.

This hub, run by Kakatiya Sandbox, a centre that fosters entrepreneurship and innovation, will act like a rural incubator to encourage entrepreneurship at grassroots level.

“There are a large number of problems to be solved in rural areas and people who are familiar with them should be in the best position to solve the problems. Rural entrepreneurs need structured guidance and an incubator offers the best method of providing a necessary ecosystem and support to them,” says Jayesh Ranjan, Telangana IT Secretary.

Kakatiya Hub for Social Innovation will work on the same lines as  Hyderabad’s T-Hub, which is also backed by the Telangana government.

“People in impoverished communities see a problem and feel helpless about it. However, those in vibrant communities see opportunities in problems. The objective of the Sandbox is to encourage problem-solvers,” said Gururaj Deshpande, serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist from the Silicon Valley,

Kakatiya Sandbox was co-created three years ago by Raju Reddy, founder and former CEO of Sierra Atlantic and Phanindra Sama, cofounder of Redbus.