The Directorate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, in association with HatchLab Research Centre, successfully inagurated PRARAMBH – Deep Dive 2026 on August 28-30, 2026 , a three-day intensive startup development programme for student entrepreneurs at SRM University–AP, Amaravati. That daring spirit set the tone as Prarambh 2026 launched, marking the start of a defining journey for SRM University-AP’s young entrepreneurs.  Under the theme “Audentes Fortuna Iuvat” — Fortune favours those who dare — the Directorate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, in collaboration with HatchLab Research Centre, threw open the gates to tomorrow’s founders.

Bringing together 35 student startup teams and 87 participants, the programme provided a focused platform for students to refine their ideas, validate problems, understand markets, strengthen business models and prepare compelling startup pitches. The spirited teams took the stage to pitch their startup ideas, backed by words of inspiration from the mentors and a bold vision laid out for scaling entrepreneurship on campus.

The three-day programme featured expert-led sessions, one-to-one mentoring and pitch development, enabling students to gain practical insights from experienced industry professionals.

Sharing valuable entrepreneurial insights, Mr Leela Srinath T emphasised that building a successful business goes beyond technology and ideas; it is fundamentally about people, human interaction and effective communication. He also highlighted that presentations are merely a structure for communicating an idea effectively.

Addressing the participants, Mr Srinivasan Thirumalai, Director – Entrepreneurship and Innovation, encouraged students to make the most of the programme and the opportunities available to them. He noted that experiences once largely associated with global startup hubs such as Silicon Valley are now accessible to aspiring entrepreneurs in Amaravati.

The programme featured an esteemed jury panel comprising Mr Rakesh N Subramanian, Sr Director – AI & Digital Engineering, NTT DATA; Mrs Padma Vakkalanka, AVP & Global Practice Head – Digital Engineering, Data & AI, Bahwan CyberTek; Mr Leela Srinath T, Founder & Director, GenePro Biotech Pvt. Ltd.; and Mr Raj Madhumath, Co-Founder & CEO, CUX1 Inc. Their expertise and industry insights provided valuable perspectives to the student teams as they refined their ideas and pitches.

They were joined by Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor Prof. Ch. Satish Kumar, Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Mr Srinivasan Thirumalai, and Director of Student Discipline and Hostels Maj. Gurdeep S Narang.

PRARAMBH – Deep Dive marks the beginning of a longer-term pre-incubation and incubation journey, with the participating startups continuing through structured entrepreneurship programmes up to the 7th semester.

From identifying problems to building solutions, PRARAMBH is nurturing the next generation of student entrepreneurs.