Mentors & partners
An ecosystem an innovator could not assemble alone
A community innovator can find a problem and build a prototype. What they usually cannot reach on their own is the expert who has solved it before, the laboratory that can test it, the buyer who might use it and the finance that would let them make more.
Work with the Centre
Eight partnership routes, from community access through to market deployment.
The ecosystem
Who the Centre convenes
Nine constituencies, each bringing something the others cannot.
At the centre
ACIC-PUSH
Convening the ecosystem around community problems
Partner organisations are listed by name only after a partnership is formalised and the organisation has consented to being named. Partner with ACIC-PUSH.
Partner categories
What each brings to an innovator
Pondicherry University
Academic depth, research capability, laboratories, faculty mentorship and a continuous pipeline of student and scholar innovators.
Government departments and agencies
Programme alignment, scheme access, community reach and deployment pathways for validated solutions.
Industry
Problem statements, technical review, pilot sites, supply-chain access and routes to market.
CSR organisations
Support for community innovation programmes, inclusion initiatives and capability building.
Banks and financial institutions
Credit awareness, financial literacy and access to formal finance for young ventures.
Investors
Investor readiness, diligence exposure and follow-on capital for ventures that qualify.
Universities and research institutions
Joint programmes, shared facilities, technology assessment and research collaboration.
NGOs and community organisations
Trusted access to communities, problem discovery, field validation and deployment support.
International partners
Knowledge exchange, exposure to comparable ecosystems and cross-border collaboration.
Mentor directory
Expertise, given as time and judgement
The mentor network is being built across nine disciplines. Mentors are listed here once they have joined the network and consented to being named.
- Entrepreneurs
- Industry leaders
- Faculty and researchers
- Technology experts
- Finance professionals
- IP and legal professionals
- Social-sector practitioners
- Community innovators
- Investors
What a mentor actually does
- Review a problem statement before an innovator commits to it
- Advise on technical feasibility and prototype direction
- Test a business model against commercial reality
- Prepare founders for pitches, panels and investor conversations
- Open doors to markets, institutions and pilot sites
The mentor directory opens with the first confirmed cohort
Partnership routes
Eight ways to work with ACIC-PUSH
Each route states what a partner contributes and what the Centre is looking for.
Community Partner
Access, trust and continuity in the communities where problems are found.
- Problem discovery
- Field validation
- Community innovation camps
Industry Partner
Real problem statements and an honest test of whether a solution can work at scale.
- Challenge sponsorship
- Technical review
- Pilot sites
Technology Partner
Tools, platforms and technical capability innovators cannot access alone.
- Prototyping support
- Software and hardware access
- Technical mentoring
Knowledge Partner
Curriculum, research and training capability.
- Capacity building
- Joint programmes
- Research collaboration
CSR Partner
Support for inclusive, community-facing innovation programmes.
- Programme support
- Inclusion initiatives
- Community outreach
Finance / Investment Partner
Financial literacy, credit access and capital for ventures that are ready.
- Investor readiness
- Funding linkages
- Financial mentoring
Mentor / Expert Partner
Individual expertise given to innovators as time, judgement and networks.
- Mentor clinics
- Review panels
- Domain guidance
Market / Deployment Partner
Routes for a validated solution to reach real users.
- Distribution
- Deployment pilots
- Procurement pathways