The circumference of innovation should be free-flowing and irrespective of social metrics. Innovation is gate-kept when policies or systems limit it to only urban metros, tier-1 cities, or regions with the highest resources. A country as diverse as India is Viksit Bharat when we make its entrepreneurial ecosystem galactically vast throughout the nation across all industries and sectors. Today’s piece is a showcase of Naveed Hamid’s strategic leadership in scaling SKIIE as J&K’s most innovative and certified agri-incubation center. This is where ideas that are nurtured within the talented minds of innovators come to life.
Naveed Hamid is an agricultural business professional and the Chief Executive Officer of the SKUAST-K Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship (SKIIE) Centre, the flagship startup and innovation platform of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir (SKUAST-K) in Srinagar. Under the leadership of Naveed, SKIIE is positioned at the intersection of university, industry, and government. SKIIE works with innovators across diverse sectors like agri-tech, artificial intelligence, deep-tech, food processing, biotechnology, and rural enterprise. With SKIIE Centre, Naveed Hamid has established more than 132 startups, mentored more than 1,150 innovators, facilitated the university to secure 146 patents, and supported and validated 173 marketable startup products. He is key in copyrighting his own agri-incubation model. Also, his wide-scale network and industry collaboration culminated in building policies tailored for J&K’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, and he is a member of the J&K Startup Policy and Mission YUVA. This approach circled back to creating job opportunities for 347 additional individuals. He has authored 34 books on agribusiness, entrepreneurship, and startups and has worked closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on scaling the agricultural ecosystem of our country. Naveed is the only Incubation Immersion-certified professional in Jammu & Kashmir, the nodal officer of the J&K Incubators Network, and a task force member on several Union Territory-level government bodies.
Reflecting on his early days with SKIIE, Naveed recalls the late-night discussion sessions/brainstorming with his leader and mentor, Hon. Vice Chancellor SKUAST K Prof. Nazir A. Ganai, the consistency in pivoting towards a vision that was yet to come out as an actual blueprint for future leaders, and collaborating with agribusiness/champion farmers, students, and innovators with ideas to make it accessible to the target communities.
Naveed: “A fine biofertilizer or a high-precision IoT soil sensor is worth little if the startup cannot place it in customers’ and market hands, price it viably, and earn their trust.”
The center was named “Start Startup Ecosystem Awardee” at Paris by IICW & Microsoft and “Incubator of the Year” by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir at the Annual Startup Mela in Jammu, an award received by Naveed Hamid under the able support of Hon. Vice Chancellor SKUAST K Prof. Nazir A. Ganai and comprising a Certificate of Excellence, ₹50,000 in award money, and a ₹50 lakh capital seed fund. And that’s a tip of what they are achieving. He has been pivotal in bringing mega-projects to the university from DST, BIRAC, the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, NABARD, the Ministry of Skill Development, Syngenta India, and so on. Naveed is strategizing the center to work nationally/internationally as an extension of public, private, and corporate bodies so that innovation does not decelerate due to a shortage of resources and funds.
