admin
March 11, 2013
New Delhi, March 11, 2013
Ennovent,
a company that accelerates innovations for sustainability in low
income markets, is launching its new offering, Startup Services,
in partnership with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Startup Services is aimed at developing
and refining the business models of enterprises with products
and services that improve the lives of low-income people in India.
Often, when entrepreneurs bring innovations such as solar lamps
or low-cost education to market, they face several barriers that
stem from a lack of peer and expert support networks, and a difficulty
in engaging with mentors and service providers. Ennovent’s
Startup Services aims to address these challenges in an affordable
and accessible manner.
Compared to a traditional brick and mortar incubator, Ennovent’s Startup Services will offer a mix of virtual and on the ground support through a diverse group of expert mentors, sessions and workshops.
Ennovent’s Startup Services will initially be focused on entrepreneurs in untapped smaller North Indian Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, such as Jaipur, Kanpur and Chandigarh. In these smaller, lower-income cities, such services are currently not available. In turn, many high-potential enterprises end up developing models that are not designed to be scaled effectively and thereby fail to create a sustainable impact.
To provide support for early-stage entrepreneurs, Ennovent will create local Hubs of enterprises in different cities, which will collaborate via an online platform, the Ennovent Network, to share knowledge, insights, challenges and other resources. The Hubs will provide hands-on mentoring support, workshops and short training sessions with industry leaders. Customized mentoring modules will also be provided to meet the specific needs of early-stage entrepreneurs.
“Mentors, with their experience, enable entrepreneurs to challenge and clarify basic assumptions on which he or she may be making critical decisions,” notes Devangshu Dutta, Managing Partner at PVC Partners as well as CEO of Third Eyesight. “The mentor can also add credibility to an organization and open new doors for the entrepreneur. Ennovent’s Startup Services that aims to focus on the facilitation of hands-on support for early stage entrepreneurs, especially for those working in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities is, therefore, a great development for the startup ecosystem in India”.
Stephanie Bauer, Advisor of Sustainable Economic Development at GIZ adds, “Ennovent brings forth a unique network based approach for providing support to early stage enterprises. We are very excited about this partnership and look forward to accelerating the development of high potential impact-focused startups”.
While many social enterprises with innovations for low-income markets exist in India, recent studies indicate that only 1 – 2% get sufficient funding to scale operations for sustainable impact. Through their Startup Services, Ennovent hopes to help these enterprises refine their business models and become investor ready by leveraging both on-ground and network based support.
Startup Services will be hosting a wide range of workshops and sessions from March onwards. Mentors, investors, entrepreneurs and other key market players are invited to join.
Learn more about Ennovent Startup Services
