Incubation centre set up at varsity
THE Vinod Sekhar Incubation Centre (VSIC) has been launched at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC).
The VSIC is the fruit of the collaboration between the university and the Petra Group, and provides a platform to facilitate the research innovations to become viable businesses ventures.
University of Nottingham vice-chancellor Prof Sir David Greenaway who launched the incubation centre said: “The launch of the Vinod Sekhar Incubation Centre here at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus marks an exciting step in the continued development and reach of our activities in Malaysia.”
“As the strength and breadth of our research grows, opportunities for commercialisation and other forms of knowledge transfer become increasingly relevant and important; in turn this underpins innovation necessary to drive the knowledge based economy.
“We are also motivated to ensure our students with entrepreneurial ambitions have access to the support need to drive enterprise,” he said.
The Vinod Sekhar Incubation Centre, he added, will provide this support.
Prof Greenaway said it will also complement parallel investment taking place in incubation at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom and University of Nottingham Ningbo China.
“I look forward to seeing the success of the many business ventures that will arise from this venture,” he said.
The key objectives of VSIC is to increase the level of entrepreneurship skills among researchers, to strengthen existing relationships between UNMC and businesses in Malaysia, to develop R&D products for commercialisation as well as to establish a long lasting collaborative relationships with industry players.
Petra Group chairman and CEO Datuk Vinod Sekhar said: “I am a firm believer in innovation being the way forward – to create wealth, to solve problems, to build a better future.”
“I am very honoured that the university has chosen to put my name on the incubation centre.
“As an entrepreneur myself, I think this is an exciting opportunity not just for the students who may have exciting startup ideas, but for industry leaders as well,” he added.
Once it gets going, Vinod who is chairman of the Sekhar Foundation and CEO of Green Rubber, said the VSIC should offer industry leaders many opportunities to invest in technological startup companies that will clearly have the stamp of quality from the university.
“The start ups need the support of industry leaders; and industry cannot survive without innovating. “Innovation is at the heart of all development. It’s at the heart of entrepreneurial success,” he said.
The VSIC will offer prospective UNMC students, academics and staff with early stage business support, access to academic expertise, mentoring support and access to a structured training programme to enable them to develop the skills to set up, establish and run a business.
The VSIC will then manage the start-up and spin-out companies by providing space, access to facilities, mentoring support and access to a network of investors.
The incubation centre is located at Block B in the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and is designed to host eight designated rooms for start-up or spin-out companies.
These rooms provide hot desks for incubates, cubicles, office units as well as other shared facilities, such as a meeting and training room. It has a total space area of approximately 3,700 square feet and plans to expand to over 10,000 square feet.