Hyderabad, India, January 10, 2019: Emergent Tech Business Incubator SR Innovation Exchange (SRiX), in Telangana and Cranfield University (UK) have signed a collaborative agreement to provide British and Indian start-up entrepreneurs access to new business development and academic expertise.
Under the collaborative deal, a 10-week immersion programme is being developed with Indian start-up companies mentored in the UK by leading Cranfield academics. Both organisations aim to leverage experience in industry partnerships, applied research projects, business education and entrepreneurial development programmes.
The partnership extends knowledge exchange, between experts from Cranfield visiting SRiX to conduct learning sessions focused on manufacturing excellence. Cranfield will also support SRiX to design innovation programmes for corporate clients in the manufacturing sector.
Sreedevi Devireddy, CEO, SR Innovation Exchange, said “Together with Cranfield we will create programs to benefit both British and Indian entrepreneurs, and help enterprises gain access to international education and business development expertise. This is part of our strategic steps to build partnerships and leverage globally known academia and industry leader’s knowledge to help SRiX incubatee grow.”
SRiX will also play the role of an anchor organisation for Cranfield University’s initiatives in Telangana. Such partnerships have the potential to lead to many positive network effects, which make a useful building block for nurturing entrepreneurial ecosystem in Tier-2 cities, Sreedevi added.
Professor Simon Pollard, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International) at Cranfield University, said: “We are looking forward to working with SRiX to create innovative programmes that benefit both of our institutions and our clients. Cranfield has a proud tradition of collaborating with Indian academia, industry and government. This agreement will further enhance our strong links in India and will enable to share our academic expertise, particularly within the manufacturing sector.”
Launched in Warangal city in Telangana on March 2018 and founded by A. Varadha Reddy and A. Madhukar Reddy of the well-known SR Education group (Warangal), SRiX is supported by the DST, Govt. of India.
Less than a year old, SRiX is host to 24 promising startups from across the country, building innovative products using hardware and software technologies such as IoT, AI, VR/AR and Data Analytics. SRiX focuses in strategic areas of Agriculture, Healthcare, Environment and Education. The centre is equipped with IoT & ESDM CoE, MakerSpace, 3D prototyping zone, Fabrication Zone, AI & ML software innovation lab.
Cranfield works closely with business, industry and governments across the world. Through its industry partnerships, applied research projects and executive education and professional development programmes, Cranfield currently works with over 1,500 companies and organisations.
Cranfield University is ranked number one in the UK for research income from industry per academic, with 81% of Cranfield’s research classed as a world-leading or internationally excellent by REF (Research Excellence Framework, 2014).
The specialist postgraduate university is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management. The university focuses on the specialist themes of aerospace, defence and security, energy and power, environment and agrifood, manufacturing, transport systems, and water.