IIMK LIVE Launches Novel Fellowship Awards to Promote Innovation and Inclusivity

KOZHIKODE:
The Laboratory for Innovation, Venturing and Entrepreneurship (LIVE) at the premier B-School IIM Kozhikode has launched a novel Fellowship Programme to promote innovation-led entrepreneurship. The programme – LIVE Innovation Fellowship for Entrepreneurship (LIFE) has been especially conceptualized for first generation innovative entrepreneurs who are committed to exploring an innovative idea that has potential to evolve into a product that solves a real problem.

The LIFE programme provides fellowship awards with subsistence grant (monthly stipend) to an aspiring or budding entrepreneur of considerable potential for developing technology or business model innovation into a business venture. Along with the grant awards, it also provides pre-incubation support at IIM Kozhikode’s Entrepreneurship Development Center, LIVE and a prestigious forum for deserving innovators to pursue their venturing endeavours mitigating the risks involved in such pursuits.

Some of the salient features of the LIFE Fellowship Programme are as follows:

The LIFE award recipient will be eligible for a grant in the form of monthly stipend limited to Rs.30,000/- per month with a minimum level of Rs.10,000/- per month for a period of 12 months.

As a LIFE award recipient, the recipient gets pre-incubation support that includes subsidized co-working space, professional services support and guidance to establish/make the most of their ideas and turn innovative breakthrough into a business venture.

Access to LIVE Ecosystem network and IIM Kozhikode networks of academic experts, investors, corporates, partner institutions, alumni and other associates.
Access to entrepreneurship training and workshops at subsidized rates.

Announcing the Fellowship Programme, Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, Director IIM Kozhikode, said “The LIFE fellowship awards have been conceptualized to encourage passionate innovators who wish to convert their innovations in to viable products or commercial offerings. Surviving the uncertainties between the phases of generation of an idea to product development is what makes the journey hard for entrepreneurs. IIMK-LIVE has therefore conceptualized this defining Fellowship Award so that budding entrepreneurs are emboldened to chase their dreams with financial support, precise mentoring and access to a thriving IIMK LIVE Ecosystem network which has been the cradle for many a successful startup journeys.”

Prof. Keyoor Purani, Executive Director, IIMK LIVE said that this year-long Fellowship Programme will also have dedicated awards for startup entrepreneurs from SC, ST community to promote social inclusion under the LIFE programme. He further added that at the end of LIFE program, if the awardees have been able to start a new venture with a proof-of-concept or a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), they would also be considered for the prestigious Business Incubation Programme (BIP) for incubation of their start-ups at IIMK LIVE.

LIFE is a specific offering of IIMK LIVE under the NIDHI-EIR programme of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The applications for award of LIFE Fellowship programme are now open at www.iimklive.org and interested applicants can apply for this unique career defining Fellowship Award by 15th November 2020.