Mumbai, 16th November 2016: DesignGild, India’s first Design-led startup accelerator program and an initiative of the MIT Institute of Design (MIT ID), Pune announces the launch of its first batch. The boot camp for these startups commences on January 2017 in Pune.
The startups selected will be a part of a robust 6 – month immersive accelerator program that leverages the rich design thinking and design doing experience of MIT ID. The program will give startups an exposure to latest design methods, co-working space, access to prototyping facilities, IPR consulting and facilitation, business development support, public relations and processes that will enable them to unlock business opportunities. A set of experienced design mentors and a dedicated design team will work together with the startups on various stages from design strategy to operations.
To name a few, DesignGild’s mentors include Snehal Vasani – Managing Director, Kitchen Grace (Part of Asian Paints), Sachin Tagra – Associate VP – Brand Capital, Ashish Despande – Co Founder, Elephant Design; Vice President, Association of Designers of India and Apurva Chamaria – Vice-President & Head – Corporate Marketing, HCL Tech, Mr. Abhimanyu Kulkarni Design Head – Philips, Nachiket Thakur – General Manager R&D, A Raymond Fasteners India Pvt Ltd, Mr Shekhar Badve – Director LokusDesign, Jay Dutta – Design Partner at Saif Partners. DesignGild also has a strategic partnership with The Institute of Healthcare Design Thinking – USA.
With a creative and fun environment, innovative workspace, robust infrastructure, prototyping facilities and other business support services, DesignGild is a one-stop solution for building world class design-led ventures.
DesignGild’s strength lies in being a part of MIT Group of Institutes, with The Institute of Healthcare Design Thinking being institutional partners. This gives the startups an ecosystem access to various institutes and students in a variety of disciplines and will be offered strategic design consulting, opportunities to find design co-founders and hands-on design services to enable seamless integration of design in business.
Speaking on the launch of DesignGild, Mr. Harshit Desai, Chief Operating Officer – DesignGild said, “Globally design is gaining recognition as an important driver of innovation and business growth. Designgild acknowledges this and aims to create an ecosystem where high quality design mentorship and resources are made available to startups. Designgild will offer a 6 month intensive design focused accelerator program for startups and enable them to build design-led business at scale. The accelerator program will help startups to convert their ideas into market ready product and service offerings and create value at the intersection of design, technology and business.”
In the past decade MITID has established itself as one of the leading design schools in India and has always been engaging with industry and society in meaningful ways and contribute positive value through design. Commenting on the launch, Prof. Anant Chakradeo, Dean, MIT ID said, “MITID is a premier Institute for design consulting, research, education and practice. With a decade of rich experience in design, MIT ID has always been forward looking and aligning itself with the latest trends in design, technology and business. DesignGild is an initiative by MIT ID that builds on this legacy and aims to create an ecosystem for startups where they get best of design mentorship and resources to build their business.”
With this accelerator program, DesignGild will create an ecosystem helping the startups grow in their sector.
About DesignGild:
DesignGild is a startup eco-system that provides high-quality design mentorship and business development support to create Design-led businesses, based in Pune. It is leveraging the power of Design to create business value. DesignGild provides the right platform to incubate and accelerate innovative business ideas through a design focused road map. It achieves this by leveraging its vast network of experienced design professionals, consultants, academicians, researchers and students. DesignGild also provide a creative and fun environment, innovative work-spaces, robust infrastructure, prototyping facilities and other business support services. It aims to be the one stop solution for building world class design-led ventures. DesignGild believes that they can take a start-up from one plane to a completely new and better one by playing on their strength: Design Thinking. DesignGild will support the selected start-ups to convert innovative ideas into valuable business propositions. DesignGild is an MIT ID initiative.
Website: http://www.designgild.in
