BENGALURU:With a belief that student startups would be the next powerhouses of entrepreneurial energy and hold key to building a culture of next-generation innovation, iB Hubs, an organisation that aims to take entrepreneurship to every nook and corner of the country.
To strengthen their drive to find smart solutions for emerging problems, iB Hubs has initiated iB Hubs Startup School, a four-week accelerator programme, with zero fee / zero equity.
So far, the programme has received applications from 600+ student entrepreneurs from across 22 states and 140+ institutions. Currently, 13 startups have been enrolled in the first batch of the programme. The programme is an intense period of focused learning and rapid experimentation that enables student entrepreneurs to build, launch and scale their ventures. On demo day, promising startups can pitch their ventures in front of renowned angel investors and venture capitalists.
iB Hubs was inaugurated by NITI-Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on November 13, 2016. It has set up 35 hubs in 7 states till date. The firm has a team of over 1,000 people, comprising over 200 full-time individuals, including the alumni of IITs, IIMs, ISB, NITs, IIIT-Hyderabad and BITS-Pilani with experience in reputed MNCs.
Speaking about iB Hubs Startup School, iB Hubs Chief Mentor S Vijay Kumar says, “Developing an entrepreneurial mindset enables youngsters to see opportunity in every problem they come across. As this influences them to start talking about ‘solutions’ rather than complaining about ‘problems’, the country will see a phase shift. At iB Hubs, we’re on a mission to take the problem-solving culture as a nation-wide movement. And through iB Hubs Startup School, we’re creating role models and evangelists to do it.”
Speaking about the vision behind the programme, iB Hubs CEO K Radha Alekhya says, “iB Hubs Startup School isn’t just a summer programme. We’re dedicated to making role models here - building a supporting ecosystem for all budding entrepreneurs”. Radha adds that this is the reason why the team is offering the services with zero fee and zero equity, and promising to support them as our alumni. “We’re bringing the whole startup ecosystem together by connecting the participants with mentors, angel investors, successful startup founders and CEOs. Moreover, our worldwide network of hubs aids startups to go global,” she adds.
Programme Details
Batches:
May-June (underway)
June-July (Applications invited, closing date is May 26, batch starts on June 12)
Benefits:
Helps adopt the Lean-Startup and Design-Thinking principles
Identify and validate target customers
Build team competencies
Learn the nitty-gritty of
fundraising.
Key highlights:
One-on-one mentoring with industry veterans
Specially-curated talks and fireside chats with seasoned entrepreneurs and experts
Starter kits and credits from corporate partners
Website:
ibhubs.co/startupschool/
(The writer is the associate vice president of marketing at IB Hubs.)