The North Eastern Council (NEC), in collaboration with B-School Incubator IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, has launched a first-of-its-kind North East Entrepreneurship Development Programme (NEEDP) today at the NEC Secretariat here.
Deemed as a pioneering initiative encompassing beneficiaries from all the eight states of the region, the initiative envisages identifying and empowering 270 promising entrepreneurs from North East India with well-laid incubation and pre-incubation programmes.
The NEEDP was launched by NEC Secretary K Moses Chalai in the presence of top officials from NEC including representatives from IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, Pranjal Konwar, COO, IIMCIP, Rajarshi Sarma, Program Head, NEEDP and Flo Oberhofer, Programme Head, Prime Hub Meghalaya. R Lalrodingi, Advisor, BIT gave details about the programme.
The first phase of the initiative, the NE Entrepreneurship Challenge (Hunt) was also formally launched during the inauguration ceremony. The Hunt is a combination of multiple initiatives aimed at identifying top 270 startup ideas from the region.
It would culminate with a Reward and Recognition Summit, wherein the 270 selected startups will be awarded with cash prizes, certificates and enrollment into the Incubation and Pre-Incubation programmes.
The Pre-Incubation programme aims at grooming 150 idea/prototype stage startups towards enabling them to structure an initial business plan with all the key components of a viable and sustainable venture. They will also be awarded a prototype grant of Rs 1 lakh each, with an additional Rs 4 lakh for top 25 performers by the end of the pre-incubation program.
The Incubation programme will be run in parallel lines for 120 startups having a Proof of Concept or early revenue. The programme is aimed at consolidating the startups’ knowledge of the business nuances towards helping them commercialise and scale up their ventures.
These startups will be awarded Rs 3 lakh each as commercialisation grant, with an additional Rs 7 lakhs for the top 20 performers at the end of the programme.
The buzz around startup entrepreneurship has slowly but certainly gripped the North East region over the last five years. The region has woken up to the enormous prospects of entrepreneurship that could resolve a gamut of problems, including unemployment and lack of national exposure to the local culture and resources.
While a number of entrepreneurship development initiatives have been introduced state-wise by the respective state governments, this is for the first time that a big-scale programme has been launched for entrepreneurs from the entire North East region.
Given the scale and coverage of the initiative, the North East Entrepreneurship Development Programme is expected to create a far-reaching impact in terms of spurring the rise of a new breed of first generation entrepreneurs and consolidating the overall entrepreneurship ecosystem in the region.
