About Us
From Design to Launch
The Center for Design & Innovation trains, incubates and nurtures designers and entrepreneurs, bringing them together with businesses, venture capital and private equity.
In India, this is the only design-to-business and business-to-design ecosystem that focuses on making innovations viable for the market.
CDI is most useful for businesses, designers and entrepreneurs looking to establish themselves or expand their existing operations in the Asia-Pacific region.
It is a platform that draws in all the benefits India offers - including youth entrepreneurs and designers, an emergent market and a growth-oriented Government.
An Ecosystem Approach
Support That Makes a Difference
EduConnect
EduConnect will promote an understanding of design to businesses (d2b) and business to designers (b2d) by running educational programs around design-led innovation, entrepreneurship and design thinking.
The Centre will have flagship teaching programs around design and innovation such as entrepreneurship and innovation, innovation
management and UX/UI experience design. It will promote interdisciplinary collaborations to come up with solutions for start-ups as well as current business and service challenges.
In addition, it will run exchange programs across cultures and geographies to bring exposure to Indian designers and innovators and vice versa.
PolicyConnect
PolicyConnect will operate as a chamber of commerce and industry, creating partnerships between designers, innovators and businesses with the Government. It will also connect designers, innovators and start-up entrepreneurs to venture capitalists and other funding options.
It will be positioned as the voice for the design and innovation industry to the Government of India (GoI) among others, for:
Promoting the ease of doing business – for instance, in assisting foreign designers, innovators, businesses/companies in setting up operations in India.
Policy advocacy around financial policies like tax holidays for design and innovation R&D.
Working towards easy, improved and quick access to finance.
Promoting policies on grassroots innovations in various fields.
Promoting and striving to improve the quality of design and design education, standardising it throughout India by establishing an accreditation body for design institutes, designers and innovators.
IndustryConnect
IndustryConnect will function as an online and offline networking and knowledge sharing platform, promoting interaction at several levels among the various disciplines and businesses to engage in networking and cross learning. This agenda will be served through various modes like regular conferences, seminars, webinars, exhibitions and meet ups to share and present their views to a global audience.
A key differentiator for CDI is the fact that the members/students will have access to top industry people as mentors by tapping into networks around the globe. A co-working space specifically created with a view to promote a collaborative working environment, particularly for start-up ventures will function as a space to promote growth and learning.
ShowConnect
Show-Connect will operate both as an online and offline portfolio for designers and innovators to showcase and promote their work.
It will be marketed to end-users and businesses as a one-stop-shop for all their design and innovation needs.
The aim of this platform is to enable Indian designers, innovators and companies to have a presence in the global market at the same time give the global clientele a single-window access to the Indian market.
“There is a way to do it better. Find it.”