IIM-B to incubate 15 start-ups by women entrepreneurs

The N.S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM-B) has selected 15 women entrepreneurs to incubate their ideas into start-ups, said the B-school on Monday.

With global investment bank-cum-investor Goldman Sachs as their sponsor, the women will be trained online and in the classrooms to set up their start-ups and become the next generation of female entrepreneurs.

"Each of the 15 women will get Rs 40,000 per month fellowship to develop their business ideas into start-ups in diverse areas, including matching volunteers to social causes, specialised healthcare systems and customised social networks," the B-school said in a statement here.

 

The 'Women Start-up Programme' attracted 1,700 female entrepreneurs from across the country for a five-week online course on encouraging women to identify and test their business ideas since its launch in November, 2016.

The final 15 were selected on Saturday on the merits of their presentation of ideas before a panel of entrepreneurs, Goldman Sachs professionals and business leaders, including ID Fresh Food Founder and Chief Executive P.C. Mustafa, Pi Ventures' founding partner Manish Singhal and Licious Founder and Chief Executive Abhay Hanjura.

"Technology, as the core business idea was a key theme in the programme. Many ideas focused on community. Through the boot camp, our women entrepreneurs-in-the-making were able to learn and apply business acumen and domain expertise to help their ideas grow into a viable business," said IIM-B Programme Director Suresh Bhagavatula in the statement.

The boot camp gave the budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to network with their peers, venture capitalists, MBA students at the B-School and Goldman Sachs professionals.

With the average age of 34 years, including the oldest at 53 and youngest at 22, the participants were also trained to develop business plans, understand costing and pricing, sales and marketing and negotiation skills.

"I have benefited from the boot camp, as it exposed me to the tools, processes and mentorship to translate my concept into a working idea. My life has transformed in the last two months," said Shreya, a homemaker.

--IANS

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