The Telangana government on Friday appointed RedBus co-founder and serial entrepreneur Phanindra Sama as the state's Chief Innovation Officer.
He will head the Telangana State Innovation Cell, which has been set up to promote innovation at the grass root level.
Sama is currently serving as a Patron in Kakatiya SandBox - an experimentation lab for people to work on solutions to local problems.
Information Technology Minister KT Rama Rao handed over the appointment letter to Sama on Friday.
The Innovation Cell will promote innovation in schools and other education institutions, in rural areas, and in the government.
It will also focus on bringing the startup ecosystem closer by promoting a "State as a whole approach" as opposed to concentrating startup activity in one location by enabling co-working spaces and incubators across the state to upgrade themselves, said an official statement.
Hailing from Nizamabad district of Telangana, Sama did electrical engineering from BITS Pilani and post-graduation from Indian Institute of Science. He Co-founded RedBus, India's first online bus ticket booking service in 2006, and was its CEO for eight years.
Naspers, a South African investment firm had acquired RedBus for Rs.780 crores, a press release said.
He received "India's best internet startup", 2010 by IMAI and "Entrepreneur of the Year" award under IT by ET NOW, in 2013.
Taking to Twitter, KT Rama Rao said, “The Innovation Cell will also focus on bringing the startup ecosystem closer by promoting a "State as a whole" approach as opposed to concentrating startup activity in one location. The Innovation Cell will work with different educational institutions in Telangana to help them set-up Entrepreneurship Cells.”
“Phanindra Sama will head the Telangana State Innovation Cell, which is set up with a vision to promote innovation at grassroot level i.e in schools, colleges; rural innovation and also innovation in governance,” another tweet read.
Co-founder of @redBus_in and serial entrepreneur @phanindrasama has been appointed as Chief Innovation Officer for Telangana state. Minister @KTRTRS handed over the appointment letter at Secretariat today pic.twitter.com/RcRRBfV2ql
— Min IT, Telangana (@MinIT_Telangana) November 10, 2017
The Innovation Cell will work with different educational institutions in Telangana to help them set-up Entrepreneurship Cells.
— Min IT, Telangana (@MinIT_Telangana) November 10, 2017
The Innovation Cell will also focus on bringing the startup ecosystem closer by promoting a "State as a whole" approach as opposed to concentrating startup activity in one location.
— Min IT, Telangana (@MinIT_Telangana) November 10, 2017
@phanindrasama will head the Telangana State Innovation Cell, which is set up with a vision to promote innovation at grassroot level i.e in schools, colleges; rural innovation and also innovation in governance.
— Min IT, Telangana (@MinIT_Telangana) November 10, 2017
@phanindrasama hails from Nizamabad and had set up one of the most successful Indian startup @redBus_in in 2006.
— Min IT, Telangana (@MinIT_Telangana) November 10, 2017
IANS inputs