Women Startup Program by NSRCEL, powered by Kotak BizLabs

About

NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore runs a cohort-based programme for women founders in India, spanning ideation, pre-incubation, incubation and scale-up support with mentoring, networking and assessed grant support of INR 10 lakhs.

Benefits

• 💰Grant support
  Selected ventures in the incubation phase receive a grant of INR 10 lakhs, based on assessments.
• 🧑‍🏫 Mentoring
  Access to an extensive mentor network including alumni, industry experts and venture capitalists.
• 🤝Network access
  Connections to prospects for sales, business development and technology, as well as access to researchers and academicians.
• 🏢Co-incubation
  Founders can co-incubate with partner institutes to support startup growth across India.
• ⚖️ No equity
  NSRCEL does not take equity from ventures participating in the Women Startup Program.
• 📈Business acceleration
  Opportunities to showcase ventures periodically at startup events or exhibitions.
• 🧭Need assessment
  Area-specific development and ecosystem mapping of venture requirements.
• 🧾Legal and compliance
  Pro-bono legal and company secretarial advice from experts.
• 👩‍👩‍👧 Cohort-based learning
  A community-driven learning model described as “women supporting women”.
• 🎟️ Events and interactions
  Participation in subject-matter bootcamps and in-person events including workshops, networking sessions and demo days.
• 💸Cost
  Participation in the Women Startup Program is largely free of cost.

Eligibility Criteria

• Women entrepreneurs aged 18 and above with a feasible business idea are eligible for the Entrepreneurship Base Program.
• For the Incubation phase, women founders or co-founders must be operating in India with equal or majority ownership in the venture.
• Incubation applicants must be operating at an MVP-ready to early growth stage with initial revenue or strong market validation and a clear business model with projected revenues for the next 12 months.
• The program is sector-agnostic and open to startups in the idea, prototype and revenue stages from across India.
• Solo founders are eligible to apply.
• The Scale Hub is designed for growth-stage alumni and operates as a continuous program.

Participation Commitments

• Each applicant must apply with a single idea.
• Founders are required to be committed to their idea full-time.
• Selected participants are required to remain active throughout the program and attend the sessions and activities organized as part of the Foundations of Entrepreneurship, Pre-Incubation, Incubation and Scale-Hub stages.

Target Sector

Sector agnostic, Agriculture & Food, Defense & Security, Education, Energy & Utilities, Financial Services, Government & Public Sector, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Manufacturing, Media & Entertainment, Real Estate & Construction, Retail & Consumer, Semiconductors & Electronics, Sports & Fitness, Telecommunications, Transportation & Logistics, Travel & Hospitality, Other

Target Location

The program is open to women founders and co-founders operating in India, with eligible startups from across the country; the Incubation phase specifically requires applicants to be based in India.