Chandigarh, September 11, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Chitkara Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CCIE), Chitkara University, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chandigarh Angels Network (CAN) to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem for student and alumni founders and create structured pathways from startup development to investment readiness.
The collaboration will provide aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs with access to experienced mentors, investors and industry practitioners. A key component of the partnership will be quarterly pitching sessions for deep-tech and AI-focused student startups, giving founders regular opportunities to showcase their ventures, receive investor feedback and explore potential funding avenues.
The sessions will also help entrepreneurs better understand investor expectations and strengthen their ability to present their business models, market opportunities, technology propositions, scalability and growth potential.
Chandigarh Angels Network, with a network of more than 70 investors, a portfolio of 46 companies and over seven successful exits, brings investment and operational experience to the partnership. Its association with Chitkara University is expected to add a stronger investor-facing dimension to the institution’s entrepreneurship initiatives.
Dr Madhu Chitkara, President and Co-Founder of Chitkara University, said the partnership would help young founders move beyond promising ideas towards building sustainable ventures.
She said the quarterly pitching sessions, particularly for deep-tech and AI innovators, would provide opportunities to interact directly with investors, understand the factors that make a venture investment-ready and learn from experienced professionals.
The pitching sessions will serve as a recurring founder-investor interface, enabling promising ventures from Chitkara University to present their work to members of CAN’s investor network. The platform will also facilitate mentorship, constructive feedback and potential investor engagement.
The partnership will additionally focus on structured mentorship, investor interactions, pitch opportunities and exposure to market-oriented perspectives. These initiatives are aimed at helping entrepreneurs understand the fundamentals of developing scalable and sustainable businesses while giving investors greater visibility into emerging technologies and solutions being developed within the university ecosystem.
Chitkara University has been promoting entrepreneurship as an integral part of higher education, encouraging students to develop and validate ideas, build viable ventures and engage with the wider innovation and investment ecosystem.
Through CCIE, the university brings together student innovators, founders, mentors, industry experts and investors. The collaboration with CAN is expected to further strengthen these connections and help student and alumni entrepreneurs progress from idea to venture, venture to market and market to investment.
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