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In order to bring entrepreneurship closer to the grassroots, ISB-Hyderabad has been conducting interviews for the first cohort of its I-Venture Immersive (ivi) programme. The six-month long immersive programme is open to entrepreneurs with a minimum educational qualification of passing Class 12 and an idea to pitch. 

The programme offered by the institute’s entrepreneurship arm, I-Ventures, will select 50 entrepreneurs across India based on a video-pitch, followed by an interview process for its first cohort starting in October, 2024. 

“Our pursuit is to empower individuals from all walks of life to follow their entrepreneurial aspirations, and we are focused beyond the usual big cities, with an inclusive focus on all tiers and towns,” said Professor Bhagwan Chowdhry, Faculty Director, I-Venture@ISB, in a statement. 

The application process encourages entrepreneurs especially women from Tier II and Tier III cities to apply, with three video pitches on why the candidate should be selected, their problem solving skills and need for scholarship. 

The ivi programme, which is designed on the lines of the global Y Combinator programme for startups, will offer courses relevant to running a startup–such as understanding the captable, accounting, branding–as well as ancillary support with registering a company, go-to-market strategy and others. The various courses will be taught by mentors from ISB’s alumni pool as well as industry veterans. At the end of the programme, the startups will pitch to ISB alumnus and external investors as part of a demo-day. 

The programme does not require applicants to have a CAT or GMAT score, doing away with command in English language as a metric for selection. “We are also offering multiple need-based scholarships for deserving candidates. We are looking for candidates who have launched a startup earlier which did not take off, have an idea-stage startup, entrepreneurs from smaller towns, or those looking to take their family business to the next level in the mix,” Saumya Kumar, Director, I-Venture@ISB told YourStory. 

The programme will also select some of the ideas from the cohort of 50 entrepreneurs who can continue to build their ideas from the institution for an additional six month period with investment and other support from ISB for a sum of up to Rs 40 lakh. The advance will convert into equity in the startup at the valuation of the startup as part of its first external funding round. 

The first cohort will close its first round of selection by August 30, 2024.