DRISHTI - an acceleration and incubation programme 

The term ‘acceleration’ has a broad definition within the startup community. Moreover, as accelerators are still a new and innovative way of developing startups, the model is in flux and this means that precise definitions can be difficult to pin down.

• An application process that is open to all, yet highly competitive.
• Chance of pre–seed and seed investment, usually in exchange for equity.
• A focus on small teams not individual founders.
• Time–limited support, usually between one to three months, comprising programmed events and intensive mentoring.
• Cohorts or ‘classes’ of startups rather than individual companies.

Services Offered

• Angel networks – groups of individual investors who invest their own capital into small or growing businesses and provide mentoring and business expertise.

• Business competitions – aim to stimulate innovations and find talented entrepreneurs.

• Co-working spaces – offer flexible desk and meeting space, opportunities to meet other ventures or entrepreneurs, and a programme of events or learning to support ventures.

• Entrepreneurship courses – usually run by business schools to teach the theoretical basis of entrepreneurship, although some may also include a practical component.

• Hackathons/Startup weekends – very short, intensive, hands–on programmes designed to encourage collaborative development, and test whether an idea may be viable as a startup.

• Maker spaces/hacker spaces – community-style spaces where people can come together to collaborate and share knowledge.

• Mentoring schemes – focus purely on mentoring and are designed to share expertise and experience.

• Seed funds – provide initial equity funding to startups.

• Social venture academies – offer programmes to help accelerate learning for social ventures and entrepreneurs, whether they are already working on a venture or just in  the planning stages.

Entrepreneurship Course:

1. Basics of Entrepreneurship and Startup.

2. Innovation and Creativity

3. Validating ideas!

4. Design thinking

5. How to approach/choose the right target audience?

6. Starting with Digital Marketing

7. Scaling up with Advance marketing

8. Legal registrations of a startup Company

9. Secure your idea with IPRs

10. Power of creating community/branding

11. What Investors want?

12. A parallel support of Govt. to startups

13. Let play a game of valuation

14. How to represent your startup idea to stakeholders?

15. Role of Incubation centre in a startup

16. Building a scalable business model

17. Why a startup fails?

18. How to retain your customers?

Targeted Domains for Program (Focus Area):

There are no restrictions on selections of a domain but startup should have early tractions stage:

1. Agritech

2. Travel & Tourism

3. FinTech

4. HealthTech

5. Edutech

6. Advance Technology (IoT, ML, AI, etc.)

7. FoodTech

8. E-commerce

9. Women Safety

10. Waste Management

Who can apply:

Those startups who have
- Registered Entity
- Early tractions
- Ready for seed funds
- Tech solutions

Why Startups should join us:

From a startup's perspective there are several reasons why Drishti program might be an enticing option:

• They may provide initial funding to help get one’s idea off the ground.
• They offer access to experienced mentors.
• They provide opportunities to connect with potential customers and investors.
• The cohort structure encourages peer learning and support.
• The intensity of the programme gives startups the chance to really develop their idea.
• They provide hands–on experience and an alternative to entrepreneurial education.
• They may provide (or been seen to provide) validation of the startup

How to apply:

Startups may apply by filling Google form present on

• Website

• Social Media Platforms

• Startup India portal

Timeline:

Applications are open now.

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Last date to apply: 15th Jun 2020

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