Global active impact investor Michael and Susan Dell Foundation is in talks with Indian Institute of Management (IIM) – Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) to set up an incubator for start-ups serving at the bottom of the pyramid and providing solutions for the underserved and unserved segments.
The proposed incubator will look at early-stage social enterprises working in the impact areas like financial inclusion, job creation and digital empowerment in the informal sector, and is likely to be setup by the end of 2017.
“With this incubator, we aim to back start-ups serving at the bottom of the pyramid. We will look at start-ups in the areas of financial inclusion, job creation in the informal sector and other important areas,” said Rahil Rangwala, the director for family economic stability at Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.
The foundation had recently supported a non-profit incubator at IIM-Bangalore and struck a partnership with start-up incubator UnLtd to back early-stage social enterprises working on skill development and employability of low-income youth. Similarly, the investment giant is now looking forward to offer seed funding to start-ups in India.
Encouraged by the new and unprecedented focus placed by the Indian government on improving education quality, job-oriented skill development and catalyzing an environment for entrepreneurial growth, the foundation has fostered a long term commitment to Indian start-ups industry.
The foundation committed Rs 332.6 crore in 2016 for India-specific investments over a period of 3 years. Since the establishment of its India office in 2006, the foundation has dedicated more than Rs 1,100 crore to social enterprises in India.
