Moving away from the brick-and-mortar model, now even incubation is getting online. The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)'s Ahmedabad chapter in partnership with Intellecap has launched an online incubation platform 'StartupWave' from Monday.
A virtual incubation platform, StartupWave has been built as an infrastructure for the Indian start-up incubation eco-system, conceptualised by Intellecap in partnership with Government of UK's Department for International Development in India and GIZ on behalf of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
According to TiE, since over 90 per cent of business ideas do not fructify due to lack of incubation and mentoring support, the online platform will help boost start-up enrollments, especially from unexpected geographies in the state.
"The idea is to give the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Gujarat the right kind of support irrespective of geography. Even people who are not in the major cities and are in need of incubation and mentoring support can now avail the same through the online platform," said Neha Sheth, president of TiE Ahmedabad chapter.
Apart from TiE, MICA's incubation centre has officially partnered, while incubators from IIM-A's CIIE will also provide services under the platform. As a collaborative platform, StartupWave aims to "democratize incubation" and is a one-stop service, providing a blend of virtual and in-person support to take start-up enterprises from idea to investment stage.
"It is a free-to-use platform. The idea is to take incubation to grass root levels through startupwave.co. We have partnered with TiE to reach out to their entrepreneurial network in Gujarat and MICA is our official incubator partner. The aim is to reach beyond the brick and mortar model of an incubation centre," said Ipshita Sinha, manager at Intellecap which runs the StartupWave.
The platform has been designed in consultation with and is being used by incubators, corporates, funds and start-ups.
Existing and aspiring entrepreneurs will be required to follow a seven step process on the platform which includes creating a profile and creating a business model canvas. The canvas helps a mentor to evaluate the business model's viability and after the mentor's approval, the entrepreneur is able to connect with one of the incubators on Startup Wave's board. Currently, Startup wave has 25 incubators and 20 mentors on board, said Sinha.
