The NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), the incubation and entrepreneurship hub at IIM Bangalore, has been selected by NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) to receive ₹10 crore as scale-up support over the next two years, which will enable the centre to upgrade and expand its infrastructure and, thereby, its services to entrepreneurs. NSRCEL is one of the six established incubation centres in the country to receive this financial support under the Atal Innovation Mission.
NITI Aayog received 232 applications from all over India last year for assessment under this scheme. A total of 17 shortlisted centres were interviewed and reviewed in-depth by NITI Aayog, before the final six were picked.
The selection process included initial screening, data cleaning, evaluation and presentation followed by site visit, if required. The evaluation matrix covered years of relevant experience of supporting start-ups, quality of portfolio start-ups, quality/diversity of mentors and teams, proposed business plan and budget, quality/diversity of existing and proposed partners, and partnership with investors.
The objective of the scheme is to transform the start-up ecosystem in the country by upgrading the established incubation centres to world-class standards.
Explaining how NSRCEL at IIM-B plans to use the grant to reap maximum benefits, Suresh Bhagavatula, Chairperson, Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development, NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore, said: “We are happy to receive funding from NITI Aayog. In addition to helping start-ups, we will be using these funds to help SMEs and family businesses professionalise and scale their operations. In addition to incubation facilities, we plan to train entrepreneurs by using a blended learning approach, which uses both online and offline classroom training. Since IIM-B already has over 20 online courses, it would be easy for NSRCEL to reach out to a large number of ventures.”