NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Bangalore: The Indian Angel Network (IAN) on Wednesday announced the launch of an incubation programme for start-ups in the social impact space.

The programme will be conducted in association with GIZ GmbH—the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation—and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).

Through this incubator, IAN plans to incubate hundreds of social enterprises serving the base of the economic pyramid. The focus of the incubator will be on helping the ecosystem to create and breed sustainable enterprises which will create positive impact on the lives of Indian citizens.

“Often we see passionate impact inclined entrepreneurs create local centres of excellence, but they do not have the experience and vision to scale those ventures nationally. IAN’s intention is to create a significant difference in creating social impact by helping and guiding passionate entrepreneurs scale up their ventures,” Mohi Goyal, co-founder, Indian Angel Network, said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Indian Angel Network, which has nearly 300 investors and mentors, has partnered with GIZ and SIDBI, to form a larger pool of mentors to help drive this initiative, which plans to help start-ups with money, mentors and market access.

The six-to-nine-month initiative will be part of the new bilateral cooperation programme funded by the German ministry of economic cooperation and development (BMZ), GIZ and SIDBI.