IIM Indore joined hands with IIM Bangalore and launched the Women Start-up Programme (WSP) in April 2018. The Institute celebrated the Graduation Ceremony of 100 Women Entrepreneurs (9 from IIM Indore) on May 10, 2018 at IIM Bangalore Campus. IM Indore shortlisted 30 participants for the first boot camp that was conducted from 2nd April to 7th April 2018. ‘The most amazing thing about the participants was their level of commitment to their venture /idea,’ observed Professor D.L. Sunder, IIM Indore. According to him, some of the participants were at the ideation stage while others had been running their businesses for over a year. The businesses spanned the entire spectrum from pure e-commerce to brick and mortar, and offered a wide range of products and services. Some of the entrepreneurs had a social orientation while the others were purely commercial. A few of the participants were working on developing new technology products. ‘But for the limitation on the number of participants to whom we could offer incubation, we probably would have selected more,’ Professor Sunder added.
WSP aimed at offering incubation and training to women interested in starting their own ventures. This is a part of the nationwide ‘Women Start-up Programme’ offering a unique mix of online and face to face training to women who register for the programme.
The training focused on entrepreneurial and managerial skills. During incubation they received mentoring and got opportunities to interact with angel investors /VCs, industry experts and women entrepreneurs.
The Women Start-up Programme has been launched with the support of Goldman Sachs and the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India.