Jamia Millia Islamia turns its alumni into a founder-mentor network for student startups — and Kunwer Sachdev, founder of Su-Kam Power Systems, comes on as a key mentor.
Jamia Millia Islamia is stepping up its support for student founders. The Delhi-based central university has launched an alumni mentorship programme that pairs successful ex-students with current students who want to build companies — and Kunwer Sachdev, founder of Su-Kam Power Systems, has joined as one of the anchor mentors. The pitch is simple: the classroom teaches theory; alumni who have already built businesses can teach what actually happens on the ground.
Personalised one-on-one mentoring
The programme’s core is personalised: students are matched with alumni whose sector experience overlaps with their startup idea. That way the guidance is tailored to a specific business problem — distribution, hiring, product-market fit — rather than generic startup advice.
Workshops on the parts founders actually get wrong
Alumni will also run open workshops and seminars on the operational pieces most first-time founders underestimate — writing a real business plan, raising early money, positioning and marketing, and the legal groundwork of setting up a company.
Networking — and access to the innovation centre
The university will host events that put student founders in the same room as industry professionals and investors, and selected student startups will get working access to resources inside Jamia’s innovation centre. There is also a connect-to-capital layer: mentors and the university will help promising teams reach seed-stage investors.
“We are very happy to have Kunwer Sachdev join us as a mentor. His achievements and his willingness to share his knowledge will be a great inspiration to our students.”— Vice-Chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia (as quoted in The Hindu)
Why Sachdev is on this list
Sachdev’s story is the kind Jamia wants its students to hear directly. He built Su-Kam Power Systems from scratch into a global brand in power backup, filed dozens of patents along the way, and shipped products to more than 90 countries. For a first-time student founder, that is a founder-track record grounded in Indian manufacturing — not an imported case study.
Part of Jamia’s broader push on entrepreneurship
The mentorship programme sits inside a bigger effort at Jamia to build a culture of innovation on campus — empowering students to create jobs instead of only chase them, and contributing to the wider Indian economy. The university is finalising application and matching details, with the first cohort scheduled to begin shortly.
As covered in The Hindu — Jamia Millia Islamia alumni mentorship programme for student startups (2025).