Large companies are looking at campuses for innovative ideas in technical space

Edelweiss, which is a financial services firm, is looking forward to tap engineering students who might suggest some innovative ideas and technologies. The company has also created an internal board which would evaluate these ideas.

The step has been taken because the fear of technological disruption which has reached the boards of large companies. These companies are now trying to join the start-up boom, which they plan to do either through funding or collaborations. Edelweiss is open to trying both these ideas and believes that not all innovative ideas can come from inside, the company's technology chief told ET.

"We have a programme called Edelweiss Springboard. We go to engineering colleges and ask students to come up with innovative ideas for our business using few technologies. If the idea has potential, we will mentor the shortlisted teams in implementing their ideas and reward the successful ones," said Kalpana Maniar, who is the president and chief information officer of Edelweiss Financial Services.

For reaching out to the engineering students, the company has been to two engineering colleges this year, and is planning to expand the programme so that more colleges can be included in the coming years.
In the recent years, the boom in the start-up sector has given tough competition to financial services firms across the globe.

Last week, we reported about Mahindra Group’s plans to help aspiring entrepreneurs among its employees so that start-ups can be built in-house with seed funding and incubation facilities.

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