Sonia Manchanda's Idiom Consulting launches incubator for design entrepreneurs

Sonia Manchanda, co-founder and principal designer at Idiom Design and Consulting, has launched DREAM:IN Social Networks Ltd, an incubator which focuses on design entrepreneurs.

Sonia, who co-founded DREAM:IN with Kush Medhora (CEO), plans to pick 10,000 ideas to incubate from around 250 colleges in South India with which they have already tied up. The company claimed that it has already picked around 1,770 ideas so far.

Sonia, a National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad alumnus, said, "DREAM:IN is a lesson learnt from social networks, internet/new media, gaming, mobile telephony and reality television… to ignite, inspire an imagination network that connects youth to the spirit of innovation and the desire to create a sustainable next generation enterprise."

The work on DREAM:IN started in early 2011 and it focuses mainly on design. "Design comes into Indian businesses at a very late stage. We want to change this. Infusing the beauty of design while developing a business is a key for it to flourish," she said.

According to Medhora, by 2015, India will have 700 million youth and by 2020, around 45 million of these would be unemployed. "This gap needs to be bridged and we'll try to do that by incubating these ideas," says Medhora.

The company will shortlist 100 ideas for incubation, which will be presented on the final demo day in March next year. Gray Matter Capital, Helion Ventures, Seedfund, Accel Partners and a few other Venture Capital firms have invested in DREAM:IN.

(Edited by Prem Udayabhanu)