Antler India announces fellowship program with USD 20K equity-free grants for student entrepreneurs New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) Antler India has launched Antler India Fellowship, a 16-week programme along with a USD 20,000 grant, designed to enable students to turn their start-up ideas into a business.
“We spoke to hundreds of college students in the past year and realised the immense potential of student entrepreneurs that is yet to be unlocked. Indian students want to start up but end up not pursuing their ideas because of the lack of guidance and mentorship. They often require more 1-1 personalised guidance that video courses or classroom learning fail to provide,” Nandini Vishwanath, programme director at Antler India, said.
She added that capital constraints and peer and parental pressure to pursue the more stable route of placements and jobs withhold students from pursuing their entrepreneurial interests.
One of the key features of the fellowship is the monetary grant of USD 20,000 (about Rs 15 lakhs) that is given to the fellows equity-free. The grant can be used to scale their start-up idea or even pay off their student loans should they choose to pursue entrepreneurship full-time.
* * * Inzpira raises Rs 2.3 cr funding * Inzpira, an artificial intelligence-enabled on-demand live language learning and soft-skills training platform, on Thursday said it has raised Rs 2.3 crore in funding, led by Angel investors Avalon Consulting Chairman Raj Nair and JLL Executive Director Gopinath Latpate.
The seed round also saw participation from investors including Arvind Kapil (Country Head – Retail Lending, HDFC Bank), Yash Chamria (Joint VP, Piramal Capital), Naveen Raju (Executive Director, TIE Mumbai), Ajay Nayar (Associate Partner, IBM) and others, a statement said.
The start-up plans to utilise the fresh funds to improve its tech platform, enhance brand presence and expand its customer base, it added. Inzpira had earlier raised Rs 25 lakh as part of its pre-seed round from 100X.VC in March 2021 and was part of their class 04 cohort. The start-up has raised Rs 2.55 crore to date.
“At Inzpira, we are building a platform that provides on-demand live, individual language training where users can learn anytime according to their convenience, as easy as booking a cab or ordering food. We intend to revolutionise the language learning sector by giving both adults and kids an immersive learning experience by enabling them to practice and learn from hundreds of trainers,” Inzpira co-founder and CEO Rohith Namboothiri said. Inzpira is currently available and is serving users in India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
* * * Uber launches service in 100th city in India * Ride-hailing app Uber on Thursday said it has begun serving riders and drivers in Warangal in Telangana, marking the company’s expansion to 100 cities across India.
Initially, it has made a range of Auto and Car products available on its platform in the city, a statement said.
Uber launched in India in 2013 and has, since then, served nearly 95 million riders and drivers till date, it added.
“We are thrilled to begin serving our 100th city in India through this launch in Warangal…We aim to amplify the company’s success with the help of technology and product innovation as we develop customer-first products for our global and Indian market,” Uber India and South Asia Head of Cities Operations Shiva Shailedran said. PTI SR HRS hrs
