Vipul Patel - Partner - Seed Investing,  CIIE.CO, IIMA

Vipul Patel

Partner - Seed Investing, CIIE.CO, IIMA

More about Vipul Patel

Partner, Seed Investing, IIM Ahmedabad’s CIIE.CO

CIIE.CO is the Innovation Continuum for fearless entrepreneurs, built at IIM Ahmedabad and recognized as a Centre of Excellence by the Department of Science and Technology.
Founded in 2002, initially, as an academic centre, CIIE.CO has since grown and pivoted to address the multiple emergent gaps in India’s innovation-driven entrepreneurship ecosystem. Today, this continuum spreads across incubation, acceleration, seed and growth funding, and research.

Over its journey, CIIE.CO has continued to fill the multiple, ever-evolving gaps in the Indian innovation-driven entrepreneurship space in many novel and pathbreaking ways. Among various initiatives, CIIE.CO has conceptualised and hosted India’s first accelerator - iAccelerator- in 2009, created India’s first and so far the only cleantech-focused fund called INFUSE Ventures, designed and hosted one of India’s largest accelerator programs - The Power of Ideas and continued to run it in four waves over a decade. Overall, CIIE.CO has accelerated over 1000 startups, funded over 300 startups, mentored and coached over 5000 startups and inspired more than a million with its publication - Stay Hungry Stay Foolish.

CIIE.CO multiplies its strength by working with like-minded partners like corporates, government departments, ministries and bodies, investors, multilateral agencies and academia. Through these partnerships, CIIE.CO has created and implemented a range of interventions including accelerator programs, investment instruments and funds, research and advisory projects and long-duration comprehensive programs including various elements of the innovation continuum. It has and continues to work with the central and several state governments in advisory roles on policies and initiatives that are aimed at the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

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Featured speaker at previous eChai events:
Fundraising for Startups: Ahmedabad edition
Founders and startup folks who joined past eChai startup events

The eChai Effect - In Their Words

"I attended my first eChai event 3 yrs back, and no one knew me in the market. Over the next three years, eChai didn’t only help me with knowledge or networking, but it gave me an identity from being unknown to now being recognized by a group of inspirational entrepreneurs connected with eChai, who have been gracious enough to acknowledge me and Digipple."
Viraj Rajani - Co-Founder, Digipple
Viraj Rajani
Co-Founder, Digipple
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Pankaj Bhimani - Founder, 58miles
Pankaj Bhimani
Founder, 58miles
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Shalin (Shawn) Parikh - Founder, MyCPE One
Shalin (Shawn) Parikh
Founder, MyCPE One

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