Anant National University launches two executive courses for budding entrepreneurs

Anant National University has announced two executive programmes – a one-week certificate course on designing affordable living and a year-long course on entrepreneurs in residence (EIR) – to support and encourage budding entrepreneurs.

The university announced the courses on January 6. The certificate course in designing affordable living is the first certification course offered by the varsity.

Miniya Chatterji, director of the Anant Centre for Sustainability and CEO of Sustain Labs, said, “Anant National University’s executive education courses in the field of sustainability fill a crucial skill gap of entrepreneurial abilities to create scalable solutions for affordable living. We don’t yet learn about inequality and skills to overcome it in high school, which makes it difficult for entrepreneurs to build products, services, and business models that are incentivised to create a more equitable society. Both the ‘designing affordable living’ course and the ‘entrepreneurs in residence’ programme are offered to overcome these lacunae.”

Key features of the Designing Affordable Living course:

• This course provides 30 students with the skills to build a business that innovates, creates and sells affordable living products.
• The course aims to impart knowledge about various materials used for designing affordable living products, with a deep dive into the properties of laminated corrugated cardboard, a highly affordable material.
• Students shall build the prototypes of the products and enhance learning by integrating theory and practice at the end of the course.
• Students will then learn how to position, pitch and market the product they make.

Interested students can apply for this programme on the university website by February 10.

The EIR programme offered by the varsity is a year-long structured support programme that invites startups and entrepreneurs in affordable housing, building construction, research, real estate, design and prop-tech spaces.

Key features of the Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) programme:

• Every year, three chosen entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to benefit from the unique ecosystem provided by the university and its partners.
• The entrepreneurs shall have the support and guidance from industry mentors and subject matter experts at the university and its affiliate organisations to refine their products and services and take them to the market.
• The programme offers physical infrastructure such as a state-of-the-art makerspace, library, working spaces, extensive industry knowledge, and the pool of faculty, researchers and students.

The EIR programme has partnered with the Brigade REAP accelerator to help the entrepreneurs in the programme gain access to Brigade’s extensive network, ecosystem and funding options via one-on-one mentorship sessions and workshops.

Anant University has contributed in making laminated corrugated cardboard furniture for 27 COVID-19 hospitals across six states in India, a press communique from the varsity stated.

The Anant Centre for Sustainability focuses on affordable housing; indigenous models of circular economy; and building sustainable education campuses in India. Researchers at the Centre for Sustainability are working on innovative design, technology and policy solutions to address the issues surrounding the lack of affordable housing.

Get more information on the two new executive education programmes here:

https://anu.edu.in/programme/designing-affordable-living/

https://anu.edu.in/programme/entrepreneurs-in-residence-eir/