Nearly 15 start-ups undergo mentoring process for scaling up business under NIDHI

MYSURU

The ‘’NIDHI Accelerator’’ programme conducted by SJCE-STEP to expedite and scale up innovation and entrepreneurship, which saw the engagement of start-ups, mentors and investors for four months since July, culminated here on Saturday.

Supported by the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) Accelerator programme of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, the programme is part of a larger mission to nurture and promote start-ups working on innovative solutions to bring about social and economic impact.

The NIDHI-Accelerator programme was also aimed to help aspiring entrepreneurs to be guided in a rigorous and more structured manner, through a deep mentoring process and access to funding and market networks.

The start-ups on culmination of the four-month engagement pitched their business ideas for investment on the Demo Day on Saturday and it attracted angel investors, institutional investors and syndicates who evinced interest in helping the entrepreneurs raise funds for growth and scale up their businesses.

The start-ups were drawn from different sectors ranging from biotechnology to education, internet of things, medical technology apart from tech-based manufacturing.

The promoters underwent a series of workshops, master classes, discovery sessions, branding, mentorship, leadership programme, business management and interaction with successful entrepreneurs, said B. Shivashankar, CEO, SJCE-STEP.

In all, about 15 start-ups underwent the accelerator programme conducted by the SJCE-STEP and engaged with mentors and experts which are critical in any start-ups journey to minimise the failures and increase the success rate, he added.