The NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) has announced the launch of the nationwide Women Start-up Program (WSP) funded by Goldman Sachs and the Department of Science & Technology (DST).
The WSP will be India’s first customized online and classroom initiative aimed at women aspiring to become entrepreneurs. The program would facilitate the growth of women entrepreneurs by providing in-depth training to foster and augment managerial and entrepreneurial skills through mentoring, incubation, and financial support, IIMB said in a press statement.
During 2018, WSP will provide training for up to 12,000 women through its five-week “Do Your Venture” Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), customized to encourage them to systematically identify and test business ideas.
Thereafter, 300 women entrepreneurs-to-be will be shortlisted for a boot camp to be held at partner campuses in the towns nearest to their location, where they will receive classroom instructions on communications and customer interaction.
From the 300 ventures, a select 100 women entrepreneurs will then travel to IIMB for a second boot camp, where they will receive classroom instructions on developing a business plan, understanding costing and pricing, sales and marketing, and negotiation skills.
During this period, they will also have networking opportunities with successful women entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, IIMB students and Goldman Sachs professionals.
After the completion of the boot camp, these women entrepreneurs will have their business ideas incubated for a year at a partner institution of their choice where each of them will also receive Rs 30,000 per month for financial support and funding from a small prototype fund to run their ventures.
The partner institutions are CIIE’s Innocity, Ahmedabad, IIM Indore, IIM Nagpur, IIM Udaipur, IIM Visakhapatnam, and Presidency University, Kolkata.
In May, 100 women entrepreneurs selected for a second boot camp at IIMB will receive classroom instructions on developing a business plan, understanding costing and pricing, sales and marketing, and negotiation skills.
The WSP is derived from a successful pilot program launched in November 2016 by the NSRCEL which drew more than 1,700 aspiring female entrepreneurs from across the country.
The pilot program had selected 50 women entrepreneurs to attend a three-week boot camp at IIMB which enabled participants to develop a customized methodology to test and comprehend the success and sustainability of their ventures.
From there, 15 of the top ideas were selected to be incubated. Ventures included matching volunteers to social causes, specialized healthcare systems, and customized social networks.
Among the top 15 ideas selected last year for incubation, Ntalents.ai, which uses data to assist companies to discover their top sales talent and was founded by Deepika Anu and Mayank Sharma, has successfully become a revenue-generating venture with clients that include NestAway, Zoojoobe, JustOrganik, and EAI Consultancy.
“Building off the positive feedback from our pilot programme, we have been keen to expand our work to help women across the country. Our vision and goal are to offer a technology-based and scalable training programme for female entrepreneurs that will address their needs and tap the potential of our vast country,” said Prof Suresh Bhagavatula, Chairperson, Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development, NSRCEL.
“Now, with the inclusion of additional partners to expand the ecosystem of this programme nationwide, it has become a reality,” he added.
The DST, on its part, would assist and market the program to potential women entrepreneurs throughout the country. It would support the hosting and organization of roadshows, events, and workshops.
“The Department of Science & Technology sees the proven ‘Women Start-up Programme’ as part of the national ‘Start-up India’ and ‘Stand up India’ initiatives. We believe it will further foster an enabling ecosystem for women entrepreneurs while also serving to build a new pipeline of female talent throughout the country,” Dr Anita Gupta, Scientist – G /Adviser and Associate Head at the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board in the DST, said.
Goldman Sachs has been a key partner for the NSRCEL’s WSP and is an original partner who also funded the successful pilot program.
“This initiative will empower female entrepreneurs, who will create jobs and in turn strengthen the foundations of our communities. In time, we hope to work with many of them on 10,000 Women, a global program which our firm has brought to India that provides a business education and access to capital,” said Sonjoy Chatterjee, Chairman and Co-CEO of Goldman Sachs in India.
Program Schedule
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From January to March, a 5-week “Do Your Venture” Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for up to 12,000 women would systematically identify and test their business ideas.
In April, 300 ventures would be shortlisted for a boot camp at partner campuses nearest to them, to receive classroom instructions on communications and customer interaction
In May, 100 women entrepreneurs selected for a second boot camp at IIMB will receive classroom instructions on developing a business plan, understanding costing and pricing, sales and marketing, and negotiation skills.
Post the second boot camp, the women will have their business ideas incubated at a partner campus of their choice for one year.
