IIM Bangalore launches India's first customized online course for aspiring women entrepreneurs

BENGALURU: The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore today announced the launch of Women Start-up Programme (WSP) –  India's first customised online and classroom initiative for aspiring female entrepreneurs. 

The programme launched by the institute's NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) is being jointly funded by finance company Goldman Sachs and Centre's Department of Science & Technology (DST).

Meant for women entrepreneurs-in-the-making across the country, the programme will offer in-depth training to foster managerial and entrepreneurial skills through mentoring, incubation, and financial support.

Here's how the programme will work:

1. In the first stage, the WSP is expected to provide training to nearly 12,000 aspiring women entrepreneurs through its five-week “Do Your Venture” Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

2. Thereafter, 300 women entrepreneurs-to-be shortlisted for a boot camp to be held at partner campuses in the towns nearest to them, where they will receive classroom instructions on communications and customer interaction. 

3. From the 300 ventures, a select 100 women entrepreneurs will then travel to IIM Bangalore campus 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. At this stage, the candidates will also receive networking opportunities with successful women entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, institute students, and Goldman Sachs professionals.

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

The partner institutions for WSP includes CIIE’s Innocity, Ahmedabad, IIM Indore, IIM Nagpur, IIM Udaipur, IIM Visakhapatnam, and Presidency University, Kolkata.

“The WSP builds off from a successful pilot programme launched in November 2016 by the NSRCEL which drew more than 1,700 aspiring female entrepreneurs from across the country. The pilot programme selected 50 women entrepreneurs to attend a three-week boot camp at IIMB which enabled participants to develop 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,” said IIM Bangalore in a release.