From Ideation to Providing Seed Money, ‘Campus Tank Punjab’ Showcases India’s Innovation Ecosystem, Entrepreneurial Talent & Investment Opportunities for Young Innovators from Northern Region
The Hon’ble Union Minister for Power, Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Manohar Lal Khattar, launched ‘Campus Tank Punjab’, a pioneering initiative by Chandigarh University in association with Apna, India’s largest early talent hiring platform, and Venture Catalysts (VCats), the country’s leading early-stage investor network. The program is designed to empower young innovators under the age of 30 to get seed funding and investment for their startups with a dedicated funding pool of US$6 million for transforming their Startup ideas into high-impact ventures, and thus converting them into a unicorn.
Union Minister of Power, Housing and Urban Affairs, Manohar Lal Khattar, launched ‘Campus Tank Punjab’, organised by Chandigarh University in collaboration with India's largest early talent hiring platform Apna and India’s leading early-stage investment firm Venture Catalysts (VCats), to strengthen India’s startup ecosystem by providing a one-stop solution for young innovators below 30 years of age to get seed funding and investment for their startups with a dedicated funding pool of US$ 6 million for transforming their Startup ideas into high-impact ventures.
The launch ceremony of Campus Tank Punjab was attended by Manohar Lal Khattar, Union Minister of Power, Housing and Urban Affairs, as the Chief Guest along with other dignitaries including Satnam Singh Sandhu, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Chancellor of Chandigarh University, Deepinder Singh Sandhu, Senior Managing Director, Chandigarh University, Dr Preet Deep Singh, Vice President, Apna, Vansh Oberoi, Chief Investment Officer, Venture Catalysts and Deepinder Dhillon, Joint Director, Startups, Punjab. The launch ceremony was also attended by Industry leaders, renowned entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, acclaimed academicians, budding Startup Founders from prominent educational institutions in several states, including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, regional incubators, Hackathon winners, and founders of Startups incubated by the Chandigarh University.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Union Minister Khattar said,” Campus Tank is a big achievement not just in India but also in the world because youngsters face problems in starting their business ventures due to a lack of support. “But today times have changed because our Prime Minister Narendra Modi understood this problem every youngster goes through after completing studies and gave a push to entrepreneurship with the launch of schemes like the Mudra scheme. Today, many facilities are available for youngsters to start their ventures. Still, some youngsters don’t get the required opportunities. In this context, Campus Tank is a very big initiative as it will benefit students of 23,000 educational institutions affiliated to AICTE. Over 19000 student startups have already registered to benefit from the Campus Tank. US$6 million funding will be available for 300 startups, which will be shortlisted through Campus Tank,” he said.
“New ideas can come to anyone. Newton discovered the law of gravity while sitting under an apple tree. The sky is the limit for startups because anyone, with minimal education can build a startup from anywhere, be it a village or a small town. Youngsters can make millions of money by doing simple things through startups. You just need talent to move ahead in this competitive world, because remember, the biggest of global companies were once a startup. Be it Amazon, started by a youngster from a car garage, Google started from a room, or Facebook started from a university campus. So small beginnings lead to big achievements,” Khattar said.
The Union Minister further said, “Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done so much work in the past 11 years, and today there are over 1.76 lakh startups, out of which about 75,000 are women-led startups. Today, we have over 115 Unicorns. Startups will not just give employment to their founders but also to thousands of others. Today’s job seekers will be tomorrow’s job creators. Your success will help in the progress of the nation. PM Modi has given us the vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047 by competing in the world, and everybody has a role to play in realising this vision,”.
“Every nation always faces some challenges, like we have been threatened with the imposition of tariffs (by the US). We should not bow before this threat. If we work for our nation, it will progress. Such an atmosphere has been created in the past 10 years that nobody can stop India from progressing. Our nation will become a $5 trillion economy in the next two years to become the third biggest economy in the world. At present, we are the fourth biggest economy behind China, America, and Germany. At present, there is little gap between India and Germany. We have an economy of $ 4.19 trillion as compared to $ 4.52 trillion economy of Germany. But our growth rate is much higher than Germany's. So even as we are facing US tariffs, our economy is still growing at a rate of 7.8 %. At this rate, we will match Germany’s economy within a year and beat it by next year by achieving an economy of $5 lakh trillion. This is our resolve, and we will fulfill it with you (youngsters),” he added.
In his address, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and Chancellor of Chandigarh University, Satnam Singh Sandhu said, “PM Modi ji had this vision to make the country a developed nation and launched initiatives like Startup India. Through such programs, he not only understood the dreams of the youth but also provided funding to fulfill those dreams. Today, the result is in front of all of us as India has become a startup hub. In 2014, there were only 400 startups in India, and when Modi became the Prime Minister, the number of startups increased to over 1.76 lakh in just 11 years. India today is the 3rd largest startup ecosystem in the world with consistent growth. These Startups have not only registered over 12,000 patents but also created an estimated 17.6 lakh direct jobs in various sectors as of June 2025, a figure that has significantly increased from just a few hundred in 2014,” he said.
Sandhu further said, “India today has 119 unicorns, including Paytm, upGrad, and CRED, which have created new job opportunities. Therefore, the government is focusing on increasing the number of unicorns in India, which will create the next generation of jobs, to 1,000 by 2035, and then take it further to 5,000. Startups have the potential to become global companies in the future, top MNCs like Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta (Facebook), Tesla, and Uber, which were also startups at some point in time.
“For this, the government is taking the required initiatives that prioritise technological advancement, ease of doing business, and entrepreneurs. The government has arranged funds for startups with a budget of Rs 10 thousand crore and made a net commitment of Rs 9,994 crore to 141 Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) supported under the Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) scheme till June 2025. Now the aim is to make the nation self-reliant when it comes to technology, be it cybersecurity, AI, and operating systems, to defense tech, Deeptech, or pharmaceuticals. India’s startup ecosystem will have to play a key role in attaining PM’s goal of tech autonomy for India. The government is supporting the startups in every possible way and reducing the compliance burden for startups and MSMEs, with the formation of a task force to bring in next-generation reforms,” he added.
The Rajya Sabha Member Sandhu further said, “Through initiatives like Campus Tank, we aim to play a role in nurturing this growth and empowering the next generation of innovators. I am sure Campus Tank will act as a catalytic force for igniting the entrepreneurial spirit among young innovators in the country. Chandigarh University is playing its part in this by encouraging students to innovate new technologies and unlocking opportunities for growth. Ever since its inception in 2012, CU students have created over 150 startups. Chandigarh University’s Technology Business Incubator (CU-TBI), which secured the number 1 rank among all scientific research and development organizations in India by filing the highest 1126 patent applications in 2023-24, is mobilising Rs 5 Crore to catalyze growth in the startup ecosystem at CU. Chandigarh University was ranked among the top 5 institutions in filing the highest number of patents in the last 5 years and secured 3rd Rank amongst all private and government universities in India by filing 2581 patents in the last 3 years alone,”.
The President of Young Progressive Sikh Forum, Dr Prabhleen Singh, said, "Till a decade ago, no one knew about entrepreneurship, skill, and startups, but after Narendra Modi ji became the Prime Minister, entrepreneurship, skill, and startups have been given so much importance that today every person thinks about how they can employ someone else. No new work is easy, but everything is possible for the youth with the right guidance,”.
Vansh Oberoi, Chief Investment Officer, Venture Catalysts, said, “If India has to achieve its $7 trillion economy dream, 15 to 20 % of that will be contributed by this (startups) sector, which has already expanded beyond metros. Campus Tank is one of our biggest initiatives to support this ambition.”
Preet Deep Singh, Vice President, Apna, said, "Campus Tank is all about nurturing unconventional and independent-minded innovators who don't follow the beaten path but instead explore new avenues to solve pressing problems in society,”.