How can IIM Udaipur support your entrepreneurial dreams

IIM Udaipur’s culture is guided by the philosophy that students who embark on their higher education with us are inspired to consider pursuing entrepreneurship and are enabled to innovate. And our commitment to encourage entrepreneurship is by no means a small undertaking. As Charles Schwab once said, “A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm,” we intend to provide a nudge to excite students towards their venture journey.

Entrepreneurs have a huge potential to drive innovation and improve human wellbeing. To facilitate this transition while at Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur, we offer multiple enabling opportunities for aspiring students:

• Summer Entrepreneurship Programme, a two-month summer programme for students to explore their own venture instead of a corporate internship
• Student Venture Programme, a framework for students to pursue their venture ambitions and get academic credits and potential investment in the process
• Deferred Placements, an opportunity for graduated students to explore their own venture and still participate in the placement process subsequently, if required

These programmes offer students financial assistance in varying forms - a monthly stipend, prototype funding, and investment opportunities through our partner ecosystem.

We have a vibrant student entrepreneurship cell, Saksham, which is run in a real startup spirit for the students and by the students. Throughout the year, Saksham conducts various entrepreneurial events and challenges for students and startups nationwide. Some of these are ideathons, business plan and case study competitions culminating in the flagship event Prarambh. Prarambh is a startup conclave for student ventures powered by business and domain mentoring from entrepreneurs and industry experts. Saksham plays a pivotal role in our continuous endeavour to endear entrepreneurship to our student community.

IIM Udaipur Incubation Center

We are also home to a technology and business incubator, IIM Udaipur Incubation Center (IIMUIC). IIMUIC is supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Meity, and the Ministry of MSME, with IIM Udaipur as the host institution. IIMUIC’s mission is to work with innovators whose technology backed innovations improve human wellbeing and broaden inclusiveness, especially in rural areas and urban slums of India. IIMUIC works with (very) early-stage ventures pan India through its various programme offerings, which include,

• Idea acceleration, a programme to accelerate an idea into a minimum viable product
• Growth acceleration, a programme to grow and scale ventures with an MVP/prototype by identifying new markets, enabling investment opportunities etc
• Center of Excellence for SMBs to assist SMBs with their digital transformation
• Women Entrepreneurship programme to help grow and scale ventures owned by women entrepreneurs of the region.

IIMUIC works with a broad ecosystem of partners through all its programmes: IIM Udaipur faculty, industry leaders and domain experts, knowledge, investment, technology and other such service providers as partners to assist ventures in their growth journey.

Our alumni are critical partners, offering essential connections and perspectives. With the help of alumni, we continuously improve our core entrepreneurial support to students and establish a support network of mentors, investors, customers and new markets for our ecosystem ventures.

Thought leadership in research that builds a robust theoretical framework and eases practical implementations is one of the key missions of IIM Udaipur. This work is carried out by faculty and various centres of excellence (digital, development management, healthcare, consumer culture lab), spearheaded by our faculty and partners. A broader engagement between startup ventures and IIM Udaipur is expected to bring in innovations in processes, policies and execution that will broaden social, financial and economic inclusiveness and wealth creation in the region and across India.

Labs play a critical role in transforming research and ideas into implementations. To provide a practical learning experience to our students and assist ventures who engage with our incubation centre, IIM Udaipur plans to establish three new lab capabilities and infrastructure in the areas of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Design Thinking and FinTech. These capabilities are very relevant to the entrepreneurship ecosystem and will play a significant role in ensuring that we provide the necessary support to innovators.

Labs play a critical role in transforming research and ideas into implementations. To provide a practical learning experience to our students and assist ventures who engage with our incubation centre, IIM Udaipur plans to establish three new lab capabilities and infrastructure in the areas of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Design Thinking and FinTech. 

Ventures need new markets and customers to expand and grow. They need their idea validated and ensure that they are solving the right problem the right way. Corporates play a significant role in addressing these critical needs. There is a constant endeavour by IIMUIC to partner with corporates and offer a pipeline of ventures from pan India who are solving their business and social innovation needs. This cooperation between corporates and ventures becomes a reliable go to market strategy for founders and offers good mentoring and networking opportunities.  

There is a constant endeavour by IIMUIC to partner with corporates and offer a pipeline of ventures from pan India who are solving their business and social innovation needs.

Innovations within well-established organisations are critical for them to grow and address market needs effectively.  To augment these intrapreneurial capabilities, IIM Udaipur offers domain expertise, entrepreneurship, leadership development programmes and interventions to managers and leaders of various corporates, banks and government organisations.

As IIM Udaipur steps into its eleventh year, we are very well positioned to be an effective catalyst to provide a platform for our students and ventures to launch their innovations and scale their ventures with us as their partner.

About the author:

Kannan Soundararajan is the CEO of IIM Udaipur Incubation Centre. He has several years of experience in the IT industry and is now focussed on helping startups and businesses scale and grow.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha