McKinsey introduces initiative to assist IT entrepreneurs

BANGALORE: McKinsey & Company has introduced India Venture 2000 - an initiative to assist and promote information technology (IT) entrepreneurship as also e-commerce in India, thereby creating an opportunity for the IT and e-commerce business people to enhance the growth of their businesses.

McKinsey & Company managing director Ashok Alexander, said that budding entrepreneurs participating in India Venture 2000 would benefit via learning, opportunity to network and by building a potential access to funds. The likely participation of many venture capitalists would ensure a potential to access funds, he added.

The process would be three-way beginning with a competition where applications from professionals, students or existing entrepreneurs through entry forms would be invited. After this the screening would take place. Later, an advisory board consisting of venture capital personnel, business people and university professors would get involved in coaching and mentoring these entrepreneurs. The procedure is expected to encourage participants to further develop their ideas and test them for practicality, financial and market potential, Mr Alexander added.

There are 100 board members including ICICI managing director K. V. Kamath, Indian Institute of Science - Bangalore director Dr Govardhan Mehta, Nasscom chairman Dewang Mehta, Rajat Gupta of McKinsey and Professor C. K. Prahalad of the University of Michigan in the US.