~ Wadhwani Foundation’s Innovation Dialogue Series brought together ecosystem leaders across Vadodara and Ahmedabad to power inclusive entrepreneurship and MSME growth ~
~ In partnership with GESIA, TiE, and other partners, the Foundation is advancing an ecosystem approach to unlock Gujarat’s innovation potential ~
Ahmedabad/Vadodara, 6th August 2025: In an effort to boost regional innovation ecosystems, the Wadhwani Foundation has expanded its flagship entrepreneurship programs—Ignite, Liftoff, and now Accelerate—across Gujarat. These zero-cost, zero-equity initiatives empower students, startups, and growth-stage MSMEs with structured venture-building support and seamless ecosystem access.
While Ignite and Liftoff are already operational, the introduction of Accelerate brings high-touch support for 20+ high-potential, scale-ready ventures in Gujarat. With this launch, the Foundation has established a dedicated regional team in Ahmedabad to enable on-ground engagement, personalized venture support, and strategic collaboration with local stakeholders.
Over the past year, Wadhwani Foundation has:
- Enabled 5,000+ students across 50+ academic institutions (GTU, Parul University, GLS, etc.) through Ignite
- Supported 150+ early-stage ventures and MSMEs via Liftoff
- Launched deep collaborations across Gujarat’s leading academic, startup, and industrial regions, including ODAV, Naroda, and Vatwa
Building on Gujarat’s Thriving Ecosystem
Gujarat already boasts a dynamic base of startups, vibrant MSMEs, strong industrial clusters, and a growing academic and incubation network. The Foundation’s efforts aim to amplify what exists, filling critical gaps in venture support, capacity building, and access to expert and digital tools—ensuring that every aspiring entrepreneur or scale-ready founder has a real shot at success.
Innovation Dialogue Series: Turning Conversations Into Action
The expansion of Accelerate was marked by a four-day Innovation Dialogue Series (Aug 5–8) across Vadodara and Ahmedabad. These curated engagements brought together student innovators, founders, MSME leaders, incubators, industry bodies, academia, and government to co-create pathways for job-rich, innovation-led growth.
“Gujarat has long been a cradle of enterprise. Through these dialogues, we are catalyzing meaningful partnerships from students and startups to MSMEs and policy enablers,” said CP Gurnani, Global Board Member, Wadhwani Foundation & Founder, AlonOS. “At the Foundation, we’re entrepreneurs using philanthropy to solve complex challenges and we believe the key to scalable impact is inclusive access to innovation, mentorship, and digital tools.”
“At Wadhwani Foundation, we’re enabling aspiring entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses across India succeed in their growth ventures through national digital platforms augmented with AI, ecosystem partnerships, and local support” said Meetul Patel, President – Entrepreneurship & Government Digital Transformation, Wadhwani Foundation. “Our goal is simple: Raise the success rate of startups and the scale of established small businesses to power the country to Viksit Bharat.”
“Our students are increasingly interested in entrepreneurial careers, and this dialogue with Wadhwani Foundation gave them both inspiration and clarity,” said Prof. (Dr.) Dhanesh Patel, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.
Ecosystem in Action: Highlights from the Innovation Dialogue Series:
- Vadodara (Aug 5): Student entrepreneurship event hosted at MS University in partnership with TiE Vadodara and Wadhwani Foundation, followed by a closed-door roundtable on industry-academia-government collaboration.
- Ahmedabad (Aug 6):
- Founders Forward @ DevX – Tackling startup scale-up challenges
- MSME Growth Dialogue @ AMA – Exploring tech adoption, skilling, and competitiveness
- August 8: The series will culminate at the Dewang Mehta IT Awards, where Meetul Patel will address Gujarat’s next-gen tech leaders as Guest of Honor.
Partnership at the Core
Wadhwani Foundation is collaborating with GESIA IT Association, TiE Ahmedabad & Vadodara, GCCI, AMA, IIM-A Ventures, and leading academic and industrial institutions to embed its programs into Gujarat’s entrepreneurial fabric.
"La escena de las startups de Vadodara está creciendo rápidamente, y este diálogo con la Fundación Wadhwani no podría ser más oportuno", dijo Maulik Bhansali, Presidente, TiE Vadodara & CEO, NetWeb Software. "Los fundadores de aquí están hambrientos de orientación, redes y recursos de coste cero que puedan llevar sus empresas al siguiente nivel".
"En GESIA, vemos un gran valor en la creación de plataformas donde la innovación se encuentra con la tutoría y el apoyo político", dijo Pranav Pandya, Director Honorario de GESIA IT Association. "La iniciativa de la Fundación aporta esa claridad y orientación a la acción al panorama de las startups de Gujarat".