From Campus Emerges Startup: UNM Produces Young Digital Innovators

Amid the rapid development of the national startup ecosystem, the role of universities is increasingly strategic as hubs for emerging young innovators. Universitas Nusa Mandiri (UNM), renowned as the Digital Business Campus, is embracing this role through the establishment of the Nusa Mandiri Startup Center (NSC) as a unit for developing student startups. NSC serves as an incubation space that encourages students not only to excel academically but also to create technology-based digital solutions relevant to market and industry needs. Through various coaching programmes, NSC focuses on sustainably developing students’ entrepreneurial potential. The NSC coaching programmes include startup incubation, business mentoring, pitching training, and facilitation of access to industry networks and investors. The guidance is structured, starting from idea exploration, business model formulation, product development, marketing strategies, to readiness for presentations to partners and potential investors. Head of the Nusa Mandiri Startup Center (NSC), Siti Nurlela, emphasised that student startup coaching does not stop at the idea stage. “NSC is committed to encouraging students to develop relevant, market-validated solutions with sustainable growth potential up to the pitching stage. We want UNM student startups not only to be born but also to grow and be competitive,” she stated in a release received on Thursday (19/3/2026). One of the NSC-mentored student startups showing significant progress is D-Explore Nusantara, a data-based personalised tourism planning platform developed by students from UNM’s Data Science programme. This startup exemplifies how academic potential can be translated into practical digital solutions that benefit society. Moving forward, NSC will continue to strengthen the campus startup ecosystem through enhancing student capacity, reinforcing cross-sector collaborations, and expanding industry networks. This step aligns with UNM’s commitment as the Digital Business Campus in producing young CEOs who are adaptive, creative, and ready to compete in the digital economy era.