The Jain International Organization (JIO), a body of members of the Jain community, on Monday launched an online business and entrepreneurship training and hand-holding program called Level Next, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and the Indian Institute for Entrepreneurship Development (EDII), Gandhinagar.
The programme, launched in Rajkot by Mehul Rupani, president of JIO’s Gujarat chapter, aims to encourage entrepreneurs and help existing businesses expand. Rupani, who is the managing director of Level Next, said the common belief in India is that no formal training is required to start a business venture. “But training is required just like one has to complete MBBS to become a doctor, study engineering to become an engineer and do a nursing course to become a nurse. Level Next aims to address this training gap by providing seed money of up to Rs 20 lakh to deserving candidates to start a startup and then help them find a market for their products,” said Rupani.
While IIMA will offer a one-year certificate course called Business Level Next, aimed at helping existing businesses scale up, EDII will offer Entrepreneurship Level Next, a one-year certificate course aimed at helping people become entrepreneurs. Although there is no course fee, the candidate will have to pay Rs 2,500, a one-time registration fee, for each course.
