Falmouth Launchpad – a Kernow way of life!

Ananya Banerjee is part of our June 2021 cohort. A graduate from IIM Bangalore, she has built three businesses so far in different industries, published a book on start-up operations, and worked with over 200 start-ups. Here, she gives us a glimpse into joining Launchpad...

I came to Launchpad at a time when I was not sure whether I would make it here with India just being added to the red country list. And then I was here. After eleven nights of quarantine, the British countryside on my train journey here made me feel like I was on cloud nine. Thankfully, I had found a beautiful place to stay and settled in quite quickly with the help of some other students from the University that I had met online.

The most important part of the journey has been, not the incentives to be here, but the people you get to work with here, and the doors that Launchpad has opened for us

The very next day, I was here at Launchpad – and I have been coming here every weekday since then. The first thing you would notice here is the size of the campus – 'our cool digs.' And then, comes the ever smiling and extremely helpful team and lecturers. Talking with the team was that one thing that made my decision of moving to Cornwall easy. A bunch of people who made us all feel so welcome and made us feel like we belonged, right from the start.

The excitement just starts there. We have had so many hang outs with people from our cohort and the previous cohort – pub hopping night, curry night, adventure park trips – that it feels like a summer vacation with an added excitement of building a start-up that matters. The most important part of the journey has been, not the incentives to be here, but the people you get to work with here, and the doors that Launchpad has opened for us, in such a short amount of time.

I keep meeting people here in Cornwall who came here for a brief time and just stayed forever. I am still taking in the Kernow (Cornish) way of life – and you never know, this beautiful place with such wonderful people might also turn me into a forever 'Ryner' (people who stay in Penryn, that is)!

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