Business leaders launch “Launchpad Kashmir” to transform J&K’s start-up ecosystem

Srinagar : A mega entrepreneurial initiative is being held by the seven leading business leaders to transform Jammu and Kashmir’s start-up ecosystem.
The initative Titled ‘Launchpad Kashmir’, seven business leaders including, chief executive officer (CEO) of Excitel Broadband Vivek Raina, Muheet Mehraj, founder of Launchpad Kashmir, Khalid Wani, senior director at Western Digital, Namrata Kaul, director at Vivriti Capital, Kunal Harisinghani, chief commercial officer of FlapKap, Ishfaq Mir, co-founder of Kashmir Box, and Dawood Khan, principal engineer at Thndr have collaborated to support aspiring entrepreneurs of Jammu and Kashmir.
Raina said the initiative is aimed at fostering the start-up culture in Jammu and Kashmir by mentoring the budding start-ups.
“We actually want to create a physical space through “Launchpad Kashmir” and mentor budding entrepreneurs with ideation, capital, and raising investments,” he said.
Raina said through this initiative, they will fund and incubate 24 startups this year.
“We have started the registration process for “Launchpad Kashmir” . It will be a four-month program for every batch and will formally begin around September,” he added.
Muheet Mehraj, founder of Kashmir Box and Launchpad Kashmir, emphasized that “Launchpad Kashmir” represents an innovative approach to propel startups forward.
“We have extensive experience in this field and understand the challenges that entrepreneurs often encounter. Due to a shortage of intellectual capital here, new startups face significant obstacles. Recognizing this gap, we envisioned establishing an incubation facility—Launchpad Kashmir. This initiative is pivotal as it is driven by entrepreneurs themselves, aiming to provide the necessary resources for startups to thrive and advance to the next stage,” Mehraj explained.
The organisers said that the valley had a great scope for entrepreneurial ecosystem boom.
They said Kashmiris possess “exceptional” talent and the potential to achieve remarkable success in the business sector. “They require guidance and support, which we are committed to providing,” Raina said