About us
ANDC inStart Foundation (A Section 8 Company) is promoted and hosted by Acharya Narendra Dev College (A Delhi University Constituent College). ANDC inStart is funded under Government of NCT Delhi’s incubation policy. ANDC inStart provides a conducive and encouraging environment to potential entrepreneurs within as well as to the ones outside the campus. The Incubator is run and managed by an eminent Board of Directors and a professionally hired executive team.
Host Institute
Acharya Narendra Dev College
Acharya Narendra Dev College was established in 1991 as a constituent college of University of Delhi and is fully funded by Government of NCT, Delhi.
The college is named after the great educationist and reformist of modern India, Acharya Narendra Deva. Over the years, the college has acquired repute for the quality of education imparted to the students, the discipline and dedication of the students and the faculty, the exposure and opportunities available for overall development of both faculty and students and the sense of social responsibility within its walls.
Extra curricular activities like sports, theatre, debates, music, eco-club, NSS etc engage students when they are not in class.
Management Team
Prof. Ravi Toteja
Chairman
Prof. Ravi Toteja, Officiating Principal of Acharya Narendra Dev College has a vast academic profile that highlights a blend of educational qualifications, research & teaching experience. He did his graduation and post-graduation in Zoology from University of Delhi. He did his M.Phil degree in Tumor Immunology and doctoral degree entitled In vitro selection of sulfadoxine resistance and characterization of dhfr (dihydrofolate reductase) gene from Plasmodium falciparum lines. Prof. Toteja has substantial experience in teaching i.e. around 25 years. His academic contributions include more than 30 research papers in journals of International repute and more than 100 conference presentations in his field of expertise. He is a prolific writer with 3 books and several book chapters. He has been sanctioned several research projects by DST, UGC, DST-SERB, DST-IEDC and University of Delhi. He is involved in guiding students for Doctoral Degree. He has also been awarded with Meritorious Teacher’s award by Government of Delhi. He is also member of several professional bodies like Indian Society of Parasitology, Association of Teachers in Biological Sciences (ATBS) and Indian Network for Soil Contamination Research (INSCR). He is also actively engaged in curriculum designing of NEP. As the Officiating Principal, he has been involved in various administrative tasks, including overseeing academic programs, managing faculty and staff, and implementing institutional policies. He is also involved in initiatives to improve student services, academic support, and extracurricular activities.
Prof. Amit Garg
Director
Dr. Amit Garg is working as Associate Professor in Electronics at Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi for the last 21 years. He specializes in Graphene based materials and their applications in gas sensing and water purification, laser material interaction and Science Education. He has been the recipient of the Meritorious Teachers' Award (2012-13) with a cash prize of Rs.1,00,000/- of Directorate of Higher Education, Government of NCT of Delhi, Most Promising Innovation by University of Delhi, Teacher Excellence Award for Innovation by University of Delhi. The project “Brain-Controlled Wheelchair” won the Second Prize in the Project Category on National Science Day organized by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), Delhi and the Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS), Bengaluru along with University of Delhi colleges. He has completed eight research projects and has more than eighty research publications. He has two Ph.D. students working under his supervision, member of international scientific society, SPIE, USA and is a reviewer of many international journals. He has attended many international conferences abroad and has been technical session chair. He is Chairman of ANDC inStart Foundation, a business incubator to promote start-ups funded by DTTE, GNCTD and on advisory board of UDGAM, a business incubator funded by MSME. He has been a jury member of National Level Exhibition and Project Competition INSPIRE, DST, faculty adviser SPIE Student Chapter with biographical profile published in Who’s Who in the World.
Prof. Arijit Chowdhuri
Director
Dr. Arijit Chowdhuri is a Professor in the Department of Physics at Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi. He has a Ph.D. in experimental semiconducting thin film based sensors and has postdoctoral work experience in Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
He has research collaborations with Jozef Stefan Institute (JSI), Ljubljana, SLOVENIA and Norwegian Institute of Air Research (NILU), Kjeller, NORWAY. He has 130 scientific research publications/papers with 47 presentations in International conferences.
He has research interests in Resistive Switching, Electronic Nose for Artificial Olfaction, Integrated semiconductor gas/chemical sensors, Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) & Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) based gas/biosensing, Ambient air pollution detection &
mitigation. He also has interests in Thin film deposition of electronic materials – RF Sputtering, E-Beam evaporation, Pulsed LASER Deposition, Atomic Layer Deposition. So far as PI/Co-PI he has completed 10 research projects and 04 are ongoing with an aggregate funding of Rs. 3.40 crores from agencies including Department of Science & Technology, University of Delhi and Department of Information Technology (now DeitY) out of which one has been bilateral with Slovenia. He is recognized for independent Ph.D. guidance by University of Delhi since November 2019 and has 04 students currently registered under his guidance. He has delivered 06 Invited Talks and has been Scientific Chair at 6th Int’l Conf. on Education 2020 (ICEDU – 2020) at Bangkok, Thailand and has been Session Chair for two tracks at the 5th Int’l Conf. on Education 2019 (ICEDU – 2019) at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has been winner of Best Innovative Idea award for DU Innovation project and recognized for Teaching Excellence and Innovation by University of Delhi.
Prof. Seema Gupta
Director
Dr. Seema Gupta (Associate Professor), is one of the senior-most teachers in the college. She specializes in Inorganic Chemistry, takes keen interest in the development of e-content for undergraduate courses and guides students for summer projects. She is very proactive in issues related to students and their welfare. Co-investigator in a project entitled Design and Development of Gold Nanoparticle based Optical Biosensor for Protease Sensing , under Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre, ANDC, funded by National Entrepreneurship Development Board (DST) (2014-15). Co-investigator in a project entitled Environment Management by waste treatment at source, under Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre, ANDC, funded by National Entrepreneurship Development Board (DST) (2013-14).
Dr. Rajesh Chaudhary
Director
Dr. Rajesh Chaudhary (Assistant Professor) obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Zoology Hons. from University of Delhi in 1999. He pursued his M.Sc. in Biomedical Sciences from the B. R. Ambedkar Centre for Biomedical Research (ACBR), University of Delhi in 2001. Thereafter, he completed his PhD in “Anterior Pituitary Hormone Biochemistry” from Department of Zoology, University of Delhi in 2008. He has published several research articles in peer reviewed national and international journals
Prof. Sandeep Kumar Goel
Director
Dr. Sandeep Kumar Goel (Associate Professor) specializes in Banking and Finance, holds a doctorate degree in the area of Banking and has a teaching experience of 16 years to his credit in University of Delhi. He takes keen interest in research, theatre and social service. He is an Executive Member of Indian Accounting Association. He is Convenor of the Theatre Society and an add-on course on “Effective Communication and Personality Development through Theatre”. He is also an active member of the Finance Committee. He has been NSS Programme Officer and Convenor of Add-on course on Foundations of Banking.
Mr. Sanjay Vohra
Executive Director
Mr. Sanjay Vohra Graduated from University of Delhi and completed his Post Graduation in Agro-Chemical and Pest Management and Food Science Technology. He started as the Project Leader for ‘Mass Generation of Employment in Rural Delhi through Sericulture and Mushroom Cultivation’ funded by Department of Science & Technology (DST), Govt. of India and later joined Dept. of Sericulture at Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi. Showcasing his meticulous work skills, he was the Coordinator in Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre (IEDC) funded by DST, Government of India. At present, he’s the Manager of UDGAM-ANDC Business incubator, funded by Ministry if Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India. Coordinator of Prime Minister Yuva Udmita Vikas Abhiyan (PM-YUVA) funded by Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Skill Development, Government of India. During his career he has been a mentor for innumerable student startups, conducted various EAC, EDP, TEDP, WEDP, FDP programs. Under his stewardship a lot of project ideas are taking shape as student startups in his unique concept of entrepreneurship lab.
Mr. Dhruv Rana
Chief Executive Officer
Prior to joining AIF, Dhruv was the CEO of the SSCBS Innovation and Incubation Foundation (SIIF), an incubator supported by the Delhi Government and promoted by the Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, Delhi University. Prior to that, he worked as a Senior Consultant with Ernst & Young LLP, advising Invest India, Startup India and DPIIT on Ease of Doing Business. Dhruv has also worked as an advocate in the Litigation Team of AZB & Partners, the biggest law firm of the country. He has over 8 years of diverse experience in consulting, government advisory, litigation, drafting pleadings and agreements, startups, etc. He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Studies from the Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies of the University of Delhi and went on to earn his L.L.B from the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. He has keen interest and insight into entrepreneurship development and scaling up startups and he has worked as an independent business consultant advising startups for over five years.