Mumbai: For the past month, chartered accountants, investors and banks have been poring over the financials of several entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs seeking funding for their projects. It's not a shoot for a ' Shark Tank' episode. It's ENIGMA, the state government's initiative inspired by the television show, designed to give budding entrepreneurs a leg-up.
A pilot is underway in Jalgaon district, where the administration is rolling out the Empowering New Ideas for Growth Mentorship and Access (ENIGMA) - a platform for fledgling entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas.
Over 100 businesses have applied on the ENIGMA portal, which includes a clothing line from bananas, pooled taxi services for tier-3 cities, biodegradable wraps, automobiles, a homemade nutritious tiffin service, a liquor startup, and even a crypto farm.
The list is right now being scrutinised by experts from the banking industry, CAs, and others brought together by the Jalgaon district administration.
Historically, district administrations were not known to be aggressive when it comes to attracting investments or helping entrepreneurs, as that is the job left to the industries department. The most a district administration does is hold a day-long investment seminar, which is why the current exercise in Jalgaon is a significant step.
"The idea came after Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and MITRA CEO Praveen Pardeshi, in a meeting with us (collectors), emphasised the need to increase investment in manufacturing and get private capital to invest in projects. The idea is to create new entrepreneurs by giving them a platform where they can pitch their ideas. It's a kind of handholding for them to pitch their ideas, help them in their networking, and let them know what works and what doesn't," said Jalgaon district collector Ayush Prasad.
Fadnavis and the state government's think tank, MITRA, have been pushing officials to create more jobs across districts by luring more investments through reforms. Prasad acknowledged that the task for the district administration to get entrepreneurs was something new, as usually the district administration was involved in the day-to-day affairs of the district or planning for infrastructure projects.
The district collector said that when he had pitched the idea to bankers and businessmen, they wholeheartedly decided to support the initiative. "Many investors want to invest in new projects. We have financial institutions, banks, and also CAs to peruse the financials of entrepreneurs and startups," Prasad said, adding that due diligence has been carried out not only on entrepreneurs, but also on investors, CAs, and everyone involved in the process.
A multinational advisory firm overseeing the project said it would soon go live with competitions where entrepreneurs could pitch their ideas, which will be scrutinised in 10-15 days. One of the officials working with the firm said that the 'handholding' would be for fine-tuning their ideas, getting them vetted, and enabling the necessary access, such as services of a marketing manager for a manufacturing firm. There will, however, be no handholding for daily operations once the investment goes through.
Prasad said that it's not going to be a one-off exercise, and the response from both entrepreneurs to investors has been encouraging. The administration has a target of launching 150 entrepreneurs in the first year and doubling the number in the next three years.
A pilot is underway in Jalgaon district, where the administration is rolling out the Empowering New Ideas for Growth Mentorship and Access (ENIGMA) - a platform for fledgling entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas.
Over 100 businesses have applied on the ENIGMA portal, which includes a clothing line from bananas, pooled taxi services for tier-3 cities, biodegradable wraps, automobiles, a homemade nutritious tiffin service, a liquor startup, and even a crypto farm.
The list is right now being scrutinised by experts from the banking industry, CAs, and others brought together by the Jalgaon district administration.
Historically, district administrations were not known to be aggressive when it comes to attracting investments or helping entrepreneurs, as that is the job left to the industries department. The most a district administration does is hold a day-long investment seminar, which is why the current exercise in Jalgaon is a significant step.
"The idea came after Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and MITRA CEO Praveen Pardeshi, in a meeting with us (collectors), emphasised the need to increase investment in manufacturing and get private capital to invest in projects. The idea is to create new entrepreneurs by giving them a platform where they can pitch their ideas. It's a kind of handholding for them to pitch their ideas, help them in their networking, and let them know what works and what doesn't," said Jalgaon district collector Ayush Prasad.
Fadnavis and the state government's think tank, MITRA, have been pushing officials to create more jobs across districts by luring more investments through reforms. Prasad acknowledged that the task for the district administration to get entrepreneurs was something new, as usually the district administration was involved in the day-to-day affairs of the district or planning for infrastructure projects.
The district collector said that when he had pitched the idea to bankers and businessmen, they wholeheartedly decided to support the initiative. "Many investors want to invest in new projects. We have financial institutions, banks, and also CAs to peruse the financials of entrepreneurs and startups," Prasad said, adding that due diligence has been carried out not only on entrepreneurs, but also on investors, CAs, and everyone involved in the process.
A multinational advisory firm overseeing the project said it would soon go live with competitions where entrepreneurs could pitch their ideas, which will be scrutinised in 10-15 days. One of the officials working with the firm said that the 'handholding' would be for fine-tuning their ideas, getting them vetted, and enabling the necessary access, such as services of a marketing manager for a manufacturing firm. There will, however, be no handholding for daily operations once the investment goes through.
Prasad said that it's not going to be a one-off exercise, and the response from both entrepreneurs to investors has been encouraging. The administration has a target of launching 150 entrepreneurs in the first year and doubling the number in the next three years.
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