Big boost to women entrepreneurs

Mangalore Refineries and IIM-K launching ‘La Eve’ to promote start-ups

The Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, (IIM-K) and Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) will jointly launch a scheme to support women entrepreneurs in the country.

Labelled as La Eve (The Woman), the programme aims at promoting innovative start-ups founded by women. The initiative will be steered by the IIM-K’s entrepreneurship development centre IIM-K LIVE with the support of the start-up fund of MRPL. Following an MoU last year, MPRL was giving seed funds to incubate 11 start-ups at IIM-K LIVE.

Under La Eve, women entrepreneurs will be given access to IIM-K’s intellectual network and infrastructural resources. MRPL will provide them with seed fund assistance from the start-up India Program. Selected start-ups will get funds up to ₹25 lakh, besides task-based mentoring, co-working space, subsidised training and several other facilities on the IIM-K campus.

Women-led start-ups registered under the Companies’ Act of India will be eligible for the scheme. Early stage start-ups with the minimum viable product or at least a proof of concept will also be considered.

“No economy can grow at its full potential if a section of human resource is not actively contributing to it. Promotion and support of women entrepreneurship can contribute significantly to the country’s economic goals,” Debashis Chatterjee, Director, IIM-K, said in a press release on Monday. This is yet another initiative to harness the potential of women resource for the country’s development, he added.

It was found that women-led ventures perform 63% better than men-led companies in terms of return on investment with women showing unparalleled willingness and capacity to organise, develop, and manage a business venture.