Startup India and UpGrad on the quest to build an Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

With the belief that the entrepreneurial startup ecosystem could have a significant impact on the economic development of India, the Government of India had initiated the Startup India campaign last year to promote entrepreneurship. Now, around the one-year mark of the campaign, continuing with their support and commitment to the movement, an educational initiative to help startup entrepreneurs has been launched in association with UpGrad.

The 4-week online Learning and Development (L&D) program is a joint initiative of UpGrad, InvestIndia and the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. Mr. Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, says that the L&D module is developed to equip aspiring entrepreneurs with the basic requirements for their plunge into entrepreneurship.

The program syllabus includes idea identification and assessment, where one’s idea is assessed, and its potential is studied for target customers and market environment. The next part includes the finance and legal sides of business wherein the legal foundation, and the fundamentals of company registration, compliances, patent registration is considered. Along with these are the basic understanding of finance and accounting and an introduction to business planning. The last part of the syllabus is fundraising and valuation, in which one can learn how to pitch their companies and other aspects like fundraising, equity dilution, etc.

The learning and development module also enables interaction and networking opportunities with fellow entrepreneurs. It includes real-life success and failure stories from some of the top entrepreneurs like Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder, OlaCabs, Deep Kalra, Founder MakeMyTrip, Richa Kar, Founder, Zivame and Phanindra Sama, Founder, Redbus.

Within 12 months of its launch, the platform had received about 31,000 users, and reportedly over 800 entrepreneurs have completed the module already. The L&D module consists of a faculty made up of experts from Matrix Partners India, Unilazer Ventures and Accel Partners among others.

Through the startup India portal, entrepreneurs – including aspiring ones – can educate themselves through the various stages of their entrepreneurial journeys. No additional software is required, all one has to do is select a language, sign up and get started.