JU explores global startup collaboration with founder GHV Accelerator, Mr. Vikram Upadhyay

JK News Today

Jammu, July 28: In a move aimed at bridging the gap between academic knowledge and entrepreneurial action, the University of Jammu today welcomed Mr. Vikram Upadhyay, visionary entrepreneur and founder of GHV Accelerator(Greenhouse ventures Pvt Ltd )for an intensive and forward-looking interaction with university leadership. Centre for IT Enabled Services and Management, University of Jammu, marked a bold step towards creating a vibrant startup culture on campus by aligning with global innovation networks and startup ecosystems.

Mr. Upadhyay, who also heads M.A.I.L.™️ (Mobility and Automobile Innovation Lab) and DXLab™️, visited the Centre to explore a strategic partnership designed to offer exposure to incubation labs with cutting-edge technologies, and startup models—particularly with cross-border opportunities in India and Japan. The collaboration aims to cultivate entrepreneurial thinking and provide a platform to students of the University with skills for global success.

Chairing the session, Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu, Prof. Umesh Rai emphasised on the growing importance of industry-academia collaboration. “This collaboration has the potential to transform the learning environment by linking our students to global startup networks and innovation hubs. It is a vital step towards ensuring that education translates into enterprise,” he said.

Mr. Upadhyay shared the inspiring story behind GHV Accelerator, which he said was born out of sheer passion. Reflecting on his experience of mentoring over 200 startups—including Druva, Loginext, Blue Tokai Coffee, Deeptek AI, Dave AI, and Supplynote—he emphasised on thinking globally while building locally. “Indians are thriving as entrepreneurs abroad. The question is—why not here? The challenge isn’t talent, it’s the absence of a nurturing ecosystem,” he said, calling upon institutions like the University of Jammu to help close that gap.

Dr. Guneet Singh Sudan, Director of the Centre for IT Enabled Services and Management (CITES&M), University of Jammu shared a comprehensive overview of the Centre’s transformative initiatives aimed at driving digital innovation across the University ecosystem. In his address, Dr. Sudan elaborated on the Centre’s long term vision, which includes the development of incubation centres, fostering startups, and establishing strategic collaborations with industry leaders to provide students with global exposure and hands-on experience.

Marking a significant milestone, Dr. Guneet Singh Sudan and Vikram Upadhyay announced the successful collaboration of Centre for IT Enabled Services & Management, University of Jammu with GHV Accelerator to establish the Drone Incubation Centre—an initiative that has taken shape after four months of rigorous discussions and planning. This collaborative venture is one of the first major steps toward realizing the Centre’s broader vision of technological advancement and entrepreneurship. The Centre for IT’s Drone Incubation will serve as a dedicated R&D Lab, focused on the design and development of cutting-edge drone technologies. Additionally, Dr. Sudan, would be signing an MoU with GHV Accelerator, for building a startup company, to nurture early-stage ventures and student-led innovations. He added, this initiative would help to develop a structured framework for collaboration, focusing on startup, incubation, mentorship, innovation exchange, and hands-on industry exposure for students.

Mr. Upadhyay shared his startup philosophy—the “3 P’s”: People, Product, and Popularity—explaining that passionate teams, robust ideas, and real market validation are the building blocks of any successful enterprise. He encouraged the University fraternity to tap into this framework to create solutions that are not just innovative, but scalable and impactful.

During the interaction, Mr. Upadhyay highlighted that collaboration with Centre for IT, University of Jammu, would help the centre to emerge as a centre of innovation and entrepreneurial growth. Emphasizing the importance of empowering students through experiential learning, he proposed deeper collaboration to bridge academia with real-world startup ecosystems and invited the University students and employees for global exposures, particularly at universities in Japan, Singapore, and Scotland.

He particularly praised the University’s flagship Design Your Degree programme, calling it a pioneering, ready-made model with immense incubation potential. Emphasising the importance of experiential learning, he proposed deeper collaboration to bridge academia with real-world startup ecosystems and cross-border innovation labs.

He also underscored the importance of ecosystem-building in regions like Jammu, which are often overlooked despite having rich talent and intent. By fostering a strong culture of incubation and mentorship within academic institutions, he said, the University of Jammu can position itself as a model for grassroots innovation with global relevance.

The session also included a presentation by Prof. Sadaf Shah on the University’s Design Your Degree programme, which encourages flexible, interdisciplinary learning and supports student autonomy in academic planning.

Among others present included senior officials including Prof. Anju Bhasin Dean Academic Affairs, Prof. Neelu Rohmetra Dean Research Studies, Prof. Sangeeta Gupta, Dean Planning and Development, Prof Naresh Padha, Dr. Neeraj Sharma, Registrar, Prof. Pankaj K. Srivastava, Director CDOE, Prof. Alka Sharma, Director SIIEDC, Prof. Sadaf Shah, Associate Director SIIEDC, Dr. Jatinder Manhas, Dr. Sandeep Arya, Dr. Sunil Kumar, Ms. Jaswinder Kour, Ms. Satakshi Gupta and Mr. Tanv Sharma.