How Anant University is tapping the start-up community with Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) programmes
‘How to write a business plan?’ is one of the most commonly Googled questions among start-up owners, revealed Novuna Business Cash Flow study. In an underdeveloped or developing country, entrepreneurs face multiple issues, among which lack of business planning, marketing strategy and financing are most prominent. Experts believe entrepreneurial literacy starting at a young age can help improve sustainability. “Entrepreneurship programmes on campus in a developing country can boost mindsets and atmosphere among students by giving them the opportunity to run businesses,” Anunaya Chaubey, Provost, Anant University, told FE Education.
The Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) programmes at Anant University was launched in September 2021 and offers a one-year course. “We plan to support developing ideas and scaling up existing companies,” Chaubey said. According to him, in 2022 the EIR cohort comprised three start-ups which included Angirus, Favo Robotics and Papaya, with eight entrepreneurs.
The university claims to have designed the course for candidates who require and can leverage physical infrastructure such as maker-space, library, work-space, industry knowledge, faculty, researchers, and students. The varsity claims to provide these facilities to candidates enrolled for the programme at a course fee of Rs 30,000 per annum. “In 2023, we plan to select a cohort of upto 10 start-ups,” Chaubey noted. He further added that the varsity plans to commence the EIR programme in February 2023, for which, the application process has already been started.
According to the varsity, the EIR course is structured into five terms. In the first term, candidates are exposed to classification stages as per the venture’s business maturity and focus on getting the start-ups to the next stage by the end of the term. The second and third term focus on lectures, hackathon sessions and structured mentoring sessions, and development of prototype. “In the final two terms, we teach the candidates about product development, market strategies, planning company structure, investment instruments and raising external investments,” Chaubey said.
Furthermore, the university plans to introduce new programmes on climate change, Anant fellowship for climate action and executive education which includes Entrepreneurs in Residence and Designing Affordable (ERDA) living programme.