IIM-B Launches Nationwide “Women Start-Up Programme”

The NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) has come up with a nationwide “Women Start-up Programme (WSP),” to help women start new ventures. Funded by global investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and the Central government, WSP is India’s first customised online and classroom initiative.

This programme will provide in-depth training to foster and augment managerial and entrepreneurial skills to women entrepreneurs through mentoring, incubation and financial support. From the 300 ventures, the institute will select 100 women entrepreneurs who will then travel to IIM-B 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.

“This initiative will empower female entrepreneurs to create jobs and in turn, strengthen the foundations of our communities,” said Sonjoy Chatterjee, Chairman and Co-CEO of Goldman Sachs in India.

During this period, they will also have networking opportunities with successful women entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, IIM-B students, and Goldman Sachs professionals.

After the completion of the boot camp, women entrepreneurs will have their business ideas incubated for a year at a partner institution of their choice where each woman will also receive Rs 30,000 per month for financial support and funding from a small prototype fund to run their ventures.

“For our last year’s program, women across India participated in the online course but over 80 per cent of the final 15 who are currently incubating at NSRCEL are from Bangalore. Many women with innovative ideas refused participating in the boot camp as well as incubation because they could not relocate to Bangalore were the incubation facilities were offered. Therefore, this year with the help of partner institutions, we would like to offer incubation in various cities,” said Suresh Bhagavatula.

The other partners are CIIE’s Innocity, Ahmedabad, IIM Indore, IIM Nagpur, IIM Udaipur, IIM Visakhapatnam, and Presidency University, Kolkata.

Source: The Indian Express