Chitkara University and Chandigarh Angels Network Sign MoU to Strengthen Startup‑to‑Investment Pathways
Chitkara Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CCIE), the entrepreneurship hub of Chitkara University, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chandigarh Angels Network (CAN). The agreement aims to fortify the entrepreneurial journey of student and alumni founders by establishing structured pathways from startup creation to investment readiness. Under the MoU, the partnership will deliver structured mentorship, quarterly pitching opportunities, direct investor access, and a clear route to investment readiness for deep‑tech and artificial‑intelligence (AI) focused student ventures.
Quarterly pitching sessions will be organised specifically for deep‑tech and AI student startups, giving emerging founders a regular platform to present their ventures, demonstrate solutions, receive investor feedback, and explore potential funding opportunities. These sessions are designed to expose founders to the expectations of the investment community and to help them articulate business models, market opportunities, technology propositions, scalability, and growth potential.
Chandigarh Angels Network contributes a network of more than 70 investors, a portfolio that spans 46 companies, and a track record of over seven successful exits. This investment and operating experience adds a substantial investor‑facing dimension to the university’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, enabling greater visibility for student innovations and facilitating constructive feedback, mentorship, and potential investor engagement.
Commenting on the collaboration, Dr Madhu Chitkara, President and Co‑Founder of Chitkara University, stated that a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem is built by creating meaningful opportunities for young founders to learn, test, present, and grow. He emphasized that the quarterly pitching sessions for deep‑tech and AI innovators will allow founders to engage directly with investors, understand what makes a venture investment‑ready, and learn from experienced professionals. Dr Chitkara added that access to the right ecosystem at the right stage can significantly shape a founder’s journey.
Beyond pitching, the partnership will focus on structured mentorship, investor interactions, pitch opportunities, and exposure to market‑oriented perspectives. It is expected to enable entrepreneurs to better understand the fundamentals of building scalable and sustainable ventures while giving investors greater visibility into emerging technologies and solutions being developed within the university ecosystem.
The collaboration reflects Chitkara University’s continued emphasis on entrepreneurship as an integral part of higher education. The university, a UGC‑recognised and NAAC‑accredited private institution with campuses in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, offers career‑oriented undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across engineering, business, healthcare, pharmacy, design, architecture, hospitality, and emerging technology fields. Its curriculum stresses experiential learning through internships, industry projects, research opportunities, and global collaborations, supported by modern infrastructure, advanced laboratories, industry mentorship, and skill‑based training. The university boasts over 2,000 campus recruiters, more than 300 international academic and industry collaborations, and consistent rankings by NIRF, QS World University Rankings, and Times Higher Education.
Through CCIE, Chitkara University has been building an ecosystem that brings together student innovators, founders, mentors, industry experts, and investors. The MoU with Chandigarh Angels Network further strengthens this ecosystem by creating a direct interface between emerging founders and the investment community, expected to contribute to a more connected entrepreneurship environment that helps student and alumni founders move with greater clarity from idea to venture, venture to market, and market to investment.
---