Approach Paper on Entrepreneurship Education

1. Introduction
In an economy where wage employment opportunities are limited, leveraging government initiatives to
promote entrepreneurship becomes vital for driving employment creation. Presently, Assam boasts of
over 350 registered startups. The Government of Assam has been actively supporting the entrepreneurial
landscape in the state through strategic policy measures. Government has provided incubation support to
over 140 startups, connected more than 40 women-led startups to funds and policy support, allocated
more than INR 1.5 Crores to start-up.1 While the state has made commendable strides in terms of
funding and incubation support for startups, there is still a great distance to cover. Despite
entrepreneurship being central to the development agenda of Assam, it is not the automatic choice for its
youth. This reluctance stems from factors such as limited awareness about entrepreneurial schemes and
governmental support. Youth require assistance in navigating avenues towards self-employment
ventures. Hence, there is a need to provide hands-on support for aspiring entrepreneurs and individuals
who are seeking a shift from wage employment to entrepreneurial endeavors.

Assam Skill University (ASU) will play a vital role in leveraging the existing strengths of the state build on
the government’s efforts in developing a skilling ecosystem that engenders innovation to ultimately benefit
youth in the state. ASU would drive innovation, entrepreneurship and acceleration in the state among the
aspirants by focusing on the aspects as highlighted in the figure below:

Figure 1: Functions of ASU

2. Framework
ASU will introduce a framework to advocate a culture of creativity, support emerging startups, and
empower entrepreneurs through three strategic tracks. This comprehensive model is proposed for ASU
and is designed to stimulate widespread development and foster enduring success in Assam’s vibrant
entrepreneurial landscape.

1 States’ startup ranking 2022 Leader – Assam: https://www.startupindia.gov.in/srf/portal/SRF_2022_Result_page/Assam_15_Jan_2024.pdf

1 | PwC | Approach Paper on Entrepreneurship Education | University Business Development Support, Assam Skill
University Project
 Figure 2: Framework for Empowering Entrepreneurs

1. Promoting Innovation through Design Lab and Prototyping Support: ASU will offer the
following services:
• Advanced Prototyping Lab: Equipped with modern tools for rapid prototyping, allowing
students, entrepreneurs, and start-ups to swiftly bring their ideas to life.
• Creative and Technical Workspaces: Developing maker space and fabrication lab to fill
critical innovation gaps, particularly in IT and craftsmanship, facilitating hands-on experiences
and design thinking application. In addition, workshops on branding and marketing of these
innovative products and services to ensure national and global reach.
• Partnerships Expansion: Creating synergies with academic institutions, training partners,
other accelerators in the Northeast region such as ‘NE8x’ and global entities to expand
market access and foster international collaborations. It is imperative to formulate strategies
that optimize the utilization of the design lab/prototyping space in an efficient manner, such
as running a summer program for secondary school children in the state, workshops for ITI
students, community engagement programs and more.
• Comprehensive Legal, IP and Tax Consulting: Offering expert services to navigate the
complexities of business registrations, legalities, intellectual property rights protection and
tax.
2. Structured Post-Incubation and Acceleration Pathways: Following the incubation period, ASU
to extend support to the start-ups through:
• Co-working space: ASU will provide access to co-working space for start-ups.
• Networking and Industry Connection Events: To enhance market reach and industry
linkages for startups.
• Customized Market Access Support: Offering targeted strategies for effective market
penetration and growth.
• Ongoing Scale-Up and Growth Support: Introducing programs aimed at operational
expansion and sustained development.
• Scale-up Funding Liaison: It is proposed that ASU utilize existing and/or upcoming state
government or national funding avenues for scale-up funding support. ASU can help the
start-ups establish linkages with additional funding sources such as crowdfunding platforms,
peer to peer lending platforms, endowment funds, and private investors for funding for
subsequent stages of growth.
• Alumni Network and Peer Collaboration: Building a community for ongoing support,
resource sharing, and funding opportunities, with a focus on industry-specific guidance.
3. Tailored Entrepreneurship Training and Incubation: ASU will launch a progressive
Entrepreneurship Training Program. ASU will also pilot an Incubation Program that will cater to

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University Project
 development of innovative ideas arising from students in premier institutes in the state such as
IHM, NIT, IIT and others.
• Sector-Specific Entrepreneurial Bootcamps: Offering intensive workshops in critical
sectors, focusing on business modelling, financial literacy, and market analysis.
• Strategic Mentorship Programs: Connecting startups with a network of seasoned
entrepreneurs and industry leaders for bespoke guidance and strategic advice.
• Investment and Funding Opportunities: Facilitating connections with investors and
providing access to startup grants to secure a solid financial base for innovative projects.
• Industry Collaboration: Engaging with key industry players to offer real-world problem-
solving experiences, enhancing the practical learning curve for startups.

3. Entrepreneurship, Incubation, Acceleration and Innovation Strategy

The multifaceted services under ASU would benefit several aspiring entrepreneurs at all levels. It will
create and nurture an ecosystem to encourage entrepreneurship, convert their ideas into viable
businesses/start-ups and encourage innovation and competitiveness among youth. ASU will provide an
action learning ecosystem, illustrated in the figure below:

Figure 3: Broad Functions, Support (Services) and indicative Feeders

To commence the services, the school will execute the below steps to nurture the innovative minds and
support the applicants by providing 360-degree solution for all their needs.

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University Project
 1. Call for application: As a next step of mobilization and outreach drive, ASU will launch call for
application to invite potential entrepreneurs. ASU will deploy a strategic framework to assess
ideas and business plans of the applicants. The framework will help analyze these business plans
based on several evaluation indicators as shown in the figure below. Each applicant will be
assigned a score based on these indicators and the rating mechanism. Subsequently, selection
decisions will be made, and different cohorts will be finalized accordingly.

For plans that don’t score required points; comments and inputs will be given to the candidates to
improve their plans for the next round of applications. Selected candidates may undergo
counselling to ensure that they are ready for the program. Selection of established / mature
entrepreneurs may involve a slightly different process, barring the business plan competition
phase.

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University Project
 ASU would encourage the following type of
applicants to participate in the call for
application process:

• Seed entrepreneurs: Applicants still at the

seed stage of the business life cycle when
their business is just an idea or a thought.
• Early-stage entrepreneurs: Applicants
who have registered their business as a
legal entity, have started production and
have serviced their first customers.
Innovation • Growth Stage entrepreneurs: Applicants
who have been in business for some time
and have a product that has been tested in
the market. They are looking for scaling
operations or now planning to access larger
Relevance in the markets and compete with existing/new
local context players in the market.
• SHG/Federations: These are expected to
group/individual enterprises run by SHG
promoted in the state. These may or may
Economic not be registered as legal entities but may
Impact be running small businesses.
• Aggregators / platforms from within or
outside the State: These are
entrepreneurs who may offer opportunities
Social Impact to the rural entrepreneurs by aggregating or
by offering them platforms (digital or brick &
mortar) to expand their businesses.

Environmental
Impact

Inclusivity and
Diversity

Scalability and
Replicability

Figure 4: Strategic framework for evaluating ideas / business plans / proposals

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 2. Bootcamp Training / Capacity Building: ASU will provide tailored entrepreneurship support
based on the different needs under several different categories which shall be mapped during the
selection process itself. This will include sector-specific entrepreneurial bootcamps that will offer
intensive workshops focusing on business plans, financial literacy, market analysis, and mapping
for the right customer segments. Entrepreneurs in niche sectors will benefit from such customized
training (for instance, food packaging technology training for food processing start-ups,
intellectual property rights (IPR) training for the handicrafts sector, developing business plans),
and others. In addition, ASU will also consider offering comprehensive legal and tax consulting
services to navigate the complexities of legal, tax (GST and others), and IPR. This will, in turn,
support entrepreneurs in business registration and securing compliances and clearances.

Figure 5: Business Model Canvas

3. Business Development Services: ASU will set up an advanced prototyping lab and creative
and technical workspaces, these will support entrepreneurs in launching their products/services
to the market.
• ASU’s Advanced Prototyping Lab will be equipped with modern tools for rapid prototyping,
allowing entrepreneurs and start-ups to swiftly bring their ideas to life.
• ASU’s creative and technical workspaces: ASU will develop a maker space and fabrication
lab to fill critical innovation gaps, particularly in IT and craftsmanship.
4. Infrastructure support (co-working spaces): ASU will provide infrastructure support to start-
ups (such as co-working spaces, and other necessary infrastructure) to reduce the operational
costs of start-ups.
5. Mentorship: ASU will offer strategic mentorship programs by connecting startups with a network
of seasoned entrepreneurs and industry leaders for guidance and strategic advice. This will allow
them to receive tailored and relevant support. ASU may also consider connecting its
entrepreneurs with external pool of mentors. Some of these existing models already have diverse

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University Project
 pool of experts / mentors, which ASU may leverage through necessary tie-ups to benefit ASU
alumni.
6. Increased access to Funding and Sustainability Roadmap: ASU will utilize existing and/or
upcoming state government or national funding avenues for scale-up funding support. ASU will
help the start-ups establish linkages with additional funding sources such as crowdfunding
platforms, peer-to-peer lending platforms, endowment funds, and private investors (for instance,
ASU will connect start-ups to angel investors to secure funding for product development, market
research, prototype development, and other initial business expenses; and venture capitalists) for
funding for subsequent stages of growth (seed funding and other rounds of funding – Series A, B
and C). For instance:
• Grants through government partnerships and other aid agencies
• CSR funds through corporate partnership
• Start-up funding through private investors

7. Customized Market Access Support: ASU will offer targeted strategies for effective market
penetration and growth. Also, entrepreneurs wanting to pursue export business could benefit from
the foreign language training courses of ASU.
8. Alumni network and peer collaboration: ASU will support building a community for ongoing
support, resource sharing, and funding opportunities, with a focus on industry-specific guidance.
9. Networking and collaboration with industry stakeholders: ASU will engage with key industry
players to offer real-world problem-solving experiences, enhancing the practical learning curve for
startups and promoting industry collaborations. The diverse array of stakeholders ranging from
industry partners, governments, investors, academia to investors, constitutes a pivotal support
mechanism for the entrepreneurial ecosystem. ASU will support the entrepreneurs through
creating synergies with other accelerators and global entities that will yield several benefits such
as knowledge transfer, risk reduction, industry insights, regulatory knowledge, access to capital,
international collaborations and more. This will enhance entrepreneurs’ market reach and assist
them in leveraging industry linkages. Additionally, start-ups can benefit from networking events to
build relationships with fellow mentor-entrepreneurs and potential investors. Networking will also
help enable business growth through increasing their external visibility.

Figure 6: Benefits Attained via Networking and Collaboration

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University Project
 10. Scale-up and growth support for transitioning into larger businesses: ASU will introduce
programs aimed at operational expansion and sustained development to support the growth of
start-ups. Further, to enable the transition into larger businesses, the program will offer support,
resources, and mentorship to entrepreneurs and early-stage start-ups to refine their business
plans.

8 | PwC | Approach Paper on Entrepreneurship Education | University Business Development Support, Assam Skill
University Project