Bengaluru :
A graduate from Oxford University, Manas Nanda’s dream was to make a social change. He found his way back to his roots by starting ‘Harvest Wild’, a social enterprise, with an aim to create livelihood opportunities for people living in remote forest areas in India. It was at IIM-Bangalore’s incubation cell, NS Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), where his idea of bubble nut wash was mentored.
“I launched the pilot project at my hometown in Odisha in January 2015. I got sackful of soap nuts from nearby villages and did a few trials on how we can present them in a format to be used as laundry detergents. The product is now available in organic stores in Bengaluru. We are also taking online orders from across India and the UK,” Manas, 40, says.
His first task was to identify his role as a bridge between rural communities and health and environment-conscious urban consumers. “I was fascinated by the fact that we could make a dual impact—create livelihood in rural India and reduce use of toxic chemicals in modern detergents that affect people’s health and water bodies. I would travel to forest areas to see if some of the fruits and berries can be processed into marketable products that urban consumers would value,” he adds.
His proposal was chosen from hundreds of early pre-product entrepreneurial ideas that NSRCEL, one of the oldest incubation cells across all IIMs, receive every year. Such ideas go through several mentoring sessions by screening committees before emerging as market ready.
“Today, the scenario has changed from what it was some 15 years ago and the market is full of incubators. Our first challenge is to distinguish ourselves from the clutter. At NSRCEL, we are working with enterprises which have nothing more than a slide deck and a team. We help them acquire customers and build capital in 12 months. We look for impact-making ideas; the process starts after the entrepreneur presents his/her business plan to the committee. The possibility of incubation is informed to the entrepreneur in two days. During incubation, there are a number of review meetings with NSRCEL team to monitor the progress the company makes while incubating at the centre,” said NSRCEL chairperson Prof. G Sabarinathan.
According to him, the biggest strength of NSRCEL is its mentors who guide and mentor the incubates and play a major role in shaping up the new ideas.
Women top ideators
Annually, NSRCEL considers 80 ideas, promoted by teams comprising five members each. The maximum number of ideas are floated by women.
Chippersage, incubated at NSRCEL in 2012, was founded by Latha Srinivasan, a former software engineer. The software, which promotes English teaching in a fun way, is being used by schools in and around Bengaluru. Chippersage has developed a product to kickstart reading independence among children.
Alma Nourisher, a child nutrition and wellness firm, which aims to bridge nutrition gap in preschool/school segment with an analytic platform, is founded by Priyamvada Chandramouli. The wellness portal helps parents track their child’s nutrition levels and contribute to prevention of lifestyle diseases like obesity, cardiac ailments and diabetes.
The market winners
The past incubatees at NSRCEL include companies like JustBooks, Amagi, Milap, MeshLabs, Alma Nourisher, Brizz Tv that have made an impact or even redefined the markets they serve.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bangalore / by Shilpa Baburaj, TNN / February 23rd, 2016