ISB Floats Startup Accelerator In Partnership With Ashoka University, Microsoft Ventures

Indian School of Business in Hyderabad and Ashoka University are coming together to create a venture accelerator programme for early-stage startups with an investment of up to Rs 1 crore spread across the portfolio.

The accelerator will focus on smart cities and the two schools, along with the sugar-to-cement Dalmia Bharat Group, will invest in the programme, accelerating seven to eight startups for a small stake in them. An investment of Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh into each startup is planned.

Microsoft ventures will provide technology support for the accelerators.  

The schools will look to select early-stage startups through a two week-long application process and then mentor the teams, while letting them engage with the campus faculty and students.

An investment of Rs 7 lakh to Rs 10 lakh into each startup is planned with an entry valuation of the cohort between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 2 crore

The programme, which is open for applicants till December 31, will provide skill-building and mentoring to start-ups, who will be selected on the nature of innovation, scalability and the team background. The selected applicants will receive close mentorship and guidance for 4 months to grow their start-up to the next level at ISB and Ashoka University.

While the programme is only for full time entrepreneurs, ISB and Ashoka University students would gain valuable experience by working with startups.

“The whole idea behind the programme was to create an idea beyond just business. Students will work closely with startups and will get a startup experiences. We will be doing different events and mentoring and students can play a role in everything they do. We see a case study at an umbrella level as well once the programme concludes,” the Economic Times quoted Dheeraj Batra, head of ISB’s business incubator DLabs as saying.

The government of India under PM Narendra Modi has a vision of developing 100 smart cities as satellite towns of larger cities

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Priyank Narayan, director of entrepreneurship programme at Ashoka University, said: “We are looking at a valuation at the entry of the cohort between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 2 crore and looking at about 8-10 teams in total.”

The startups will be an integral part of student engagement programmes and there will be events at the campuses where the cohort will be at sight. Student bodies will get access to mentors and investors who will help build a broader network.

According to Pramath Raj Sinha, Founder and Trustee, Ashoka University and Founding Dean ISB the initiative will provide a multidisciplinary approach to the building of smart cities by bringing together liberal arts thinking, management principles and state-of-the-art technology on a common platform to create high impact ventures.

The government of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a vision of developing 100 smart cities as satellite towns of larger cities.

Both the schools will pitch in with skill building workshops, mentoring by industry experts and investment opportunities. Microsoft Ventures will help run incubators and accelerator programmes by providing software and technology support.

The smart city accelerator programme will focus on four broad verticals: healthcare, education, logistics and infrastructure.

During the programme spread over four months, each cohort will get access to ISB’s faculty, students and resources as well as attend courses at the business school and get mentored for a week. They are then free to go back to their locations, work on their ventures for two months and spend a week at Ashoka to get mentored.

“Microsoft is pleased to associate as the technology partner with Ashoka University and Indian School of Business for their Smart City Accelerator Programme. We hope that this partnership will help entrepreneurs come up with innovative solutions to address some of the challenges that cities faces today,” said Rajinish Menon, Director, Microsoft Ventures. (Image courtesy qq)