SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, March 30: Avlesh Singh, a 2005 batch B Tech Mineral Engineering graduate of IIT Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad has pledged Rs 1 crore to the Centenary Fund of his alma mater.
Avlesh Kumar, co-founder and CEO of WebEngage, one of India’s leading tech startups, has transferred Rs 25 lakh as the first instalment. The rest of the amount will be transferred before March 2026.
Indian School of Mines, which is now IIT ISM Dhanbad, had been set up in 1926.
WebEngage, cofounded by Avlesh along with Aniket, has been identified by leading global publications, as the fastest growing tech company in the Asia Pacific for many years in a row.
“I am happy to give back and hoping that many others would step forward in this regard. The 2nd instalment of Rs 25 lakh would be paid during the next financial year (2023-24) while the remaining amount will be provided before March ‘26, i.e Centenary Year of IIT (ISM),” he said.
WebEngage, which has over 400 employees across multiple offices in India, Dubai, Sao Paolo and Jakarta, serves thousands of customers, across India, Middle East, Latin America and South East Asia with its flagship, marketing automation product. It has raised funds worth $30 million from venture capital firms like SWC Global, Blume Ventures, India Quotient, Singularity.
Prof Rajiv Shekhar, director of IIT (ISM) lauded the contribution made by Avlesh Singh and said, “The contributions made by Avlesh should symbolically serve as no less than a clarion call for other alumni to contribute to the Centenary fund.
Prof Rajni Singh, Dean (Media & Branding) IIT (ISM) Dhanbad also extended thanks to generous effort of Avlesh.
The Centenary fund was developed last year with a fund worth Rs 5 Lakh provided by Prof SP Banerjee, former Director of IIT (ISM) as per an MoU signed by him along with Prof RM Bhattacharjee, dean (International Relations & Alumni Affairs) during the 97th Foundation day
function of the institute on December 9, 2022.
The International Relations and Alumni Affairs Department of the institute in association with IIT (ISM) Alumni Association (ISMAA) led by, Ashok Kumar, newly appointed president has planned to generate Rs 100 crore in Centenary Fund from the Alumni contributions before 2026, which will be used for developing a large auditorium in the institute besides carrying out other development works.
