Entrepreneurs get help from alma mater

Ajay Vishnu, a chemical engineer from IIT Bombay, felt his entrepreneurial dreams were being shattered when he saw his venture not gaining scale. After spending two years of his time on the venture, Vishnu was back in the job market. However, his apprehensions of getting a job were removed when his alma mater, IIT Bombay, came up with the deferred placement programme, especially for entrepreneurs like Vishnu.

The deferred placement programme by IIT Bombay that starts in 2012 is targeted at students, who have set up their own ventures but have failed, even after two years of passing out from the institute. This is a new feature for management institutions which have been trying hard to promote students with entrepreneurial intentions by proving infrastructure, funds and even roping in companies as well to help students with their entrepreneurial ventures.

“Very few students currently pursue entrepreneurial activities due to the uncertainties involved. Even if they have good ideas, they are aware of the high failure rate – a serious deterrent. We felt that deferred placement may allow some of these students to pursue such activities, which can in the end provide opportunity for them to achieve their true potential,” said Ravi Sinha, professor-in-charge, placements, IIT Bombay. The institute is also planning to set up a mentoring group for students who plan to start their own businesses.

There are several other strategies being used by other institutes like Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and Indian School of Business (ISB) to promote such ventures.

Some like TISS has are working towards a system where companies will fund the start-ups. “Earlier, the incubation process was informal but impactful. This year we are working towards making it formal. We have also approached some funding agencies to look into our programme for supporting our graduates with seed fund and fellowship. As part of the programme, students are engaged in pilot run of their ventures during summer internship, and the institute provides them with funds,” he says.

In fact, they have discontinued the placement process for the Masters Programme on Social Entrepreneurship.

“Earlier, students used to arrange for some companies to come to the campus and conduct interviews. This has now been stopped as we wanted our students to take entrepreneurship more seriously,” said Satyajit Majumdar, professor, Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, TISS.

IIM-A has roped in Tata Communications for its flagship programme iAccelerator. The three-month programme run by the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) since 2009, provides entrepreneurs in ICT segment access to mentorship, infrastructure and investment support to kick start businesses.

Speaking about the tie-up with Tata Communication, Pranay Gupta, joint CEO, Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), adds, “Any start-up always needs additional help, including funds and infrastructure. Tata Communications, apart from providing infrastructure support, will also sponsor the running of their programme.”

The Indian School of Business (ISB) has planned Propero 2012 , an initiative aimed at helping start-up and growth stage entrepreneurs all over India to raise equity or debt financing. The event, scheduled for February next year at the ISB campus, will provide venture capitalists, angel investors and bankers, access business plans from various sectors.

In its inaugural edition last year, 30 venture capitalists such as Indian Angels Network, Mumbai Angels, Helion Ventures, Canaan Partners, Venture East, SIDBI Ventures and others had participated.

This year, apart from the 30 plus angels and venture capitalists, State bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Andhra Bank have confirmed their participation.

Krishna Tanaku, executive director, Wadhawani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (WCED), ISB, explains, “Each venture would require a funding of Rs 1-5 crore. We have received over 180 ventures that are seeking funding. Out of this about 50 will be shortlisted for presentation to about 40 investors and bankers.”

“We are also talking to multinational corporations to help the entrepreneurs market their products. We already have a partnership with MIT to promote research based solutions to entrepreneurs. Now, we are looking at help from the government to create a network of incubation centres,” adds Tanaku.