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Studying abroad can be financially challenging for many meritorious students who often opt out due to the expensive course fee, visa charges, accommodation and food expenses. Therefore, scholarships help many to pursue their dreams.
News18 ‘Scholarship Guide’ brings the best and most prestigious grants for Indian students to study abroad, with most of them covering flight tickets, accommodation and course fee; and some also providing stipend.
If you have an idea or are an owner of an early stage start-up, then the governments across the globe are looking for you. Many countries including India have realised the potential of having job creators or business owners and are offering training to young innovative minds to start their entrepreneurial journey.
From Switzerland to Greece, IITs to IIMs and private universities back home, many offer training and mentorship and incubation programmes to young adults for developing a business.
Candidates need to evaluate the available options carefully and assess “how the grant or programme aligns with their business goals, and the potential impact it can have on their project,” suggests Vibha Kagzi, founder and CEO of ReachIvy.com — an education and careers advisory platform run by a Harvard graduate. “Candidates need to assess the financial support being offered and how it aligns with their project’s needs. Given that these opportunities can vary over time, it is crucial for students and budding businesses to keep up with them,” she adds.
News18 brings the top incubation and mentorship programmes for students to turn their business idea into an empire.
Community Innovator Fellowship Program
The fellowship is an initiative under Atal Innovation Mission run by the government’s think tank NITI Aayog. The scholarship is for people who wish to innovate with the required infrastructure. It’s a one-year fellowship under which training on entrepreneurial skills will be imparted to fellows while they work on their ideas. They also get funding and opportunities to pitch in front of community leaders.
Who can apply: Individuals with an idea to work on community development related start-up can apply. Applicants need to be in the age group of 18 to 35 years and hold a bachelor’s degree or diploma. Applicants also need to have English language proficiency at intermediate level.
Selection Procedure: Atal Community Innovation Centres look at individuals aiming to resolve problems in the local community. Candidates will be shortlisted based on their innovative ideas, interests in solving issues and change making and entrepreneurial activities.
Where to apply: https://aim.gov.in/acic-fellowship.php
Odyssea business incubation scholarship
This is a business incubation scholarship to help entrepreneurs set up a business in Greece. The scholarship is funded by NextFab Foundation. As part of the programme, the fellows will get education in entrepreneurial skills, mentoring, co-working spaces, business support services, networking and funding opportunities.
Who can apply: Candidates with ideas or early-stage start-ups can apply. Applicants need to be open to training and mentoring. Those joining internationally need to work around visas and international working rights. Candidates also need to have good English skills and decent hold on Greek, if required.
Selection Procedure: There is a multi-level selection process. Applicants first have to register themselves either as individuals or as a small group. Shortlisted applications will be called for basic training of 16 hours. Based on performance, candidates will be shortlisted for one-year incubation programme. The selected candidates will then get support from Odyssea with our co-working spaces, makerspace, and employability programme.
START Fellowship
Start fellowship is an accelerator programme wherein the fellows will get to experience online and offline sessions with investors, attend classes at the University of St. Gallen as well as get funding opportunity, and build their idea into a full-fledged start-up. Those who make it to the final stage get a four-month founder scholarship to visit Switzerland and develop their start-up. It covers all costs including travel, living expense and insurance.
Who can apply: Students under 25 years of age can apply for this programme.
Selection Procedure: Applicants will get a chance to attend an eight-week incubator programme online. Selected 35 founders will then take part in on-boarding programme in Switzerland. In the final stage, candidates will get professional mentorship, coaching, and workshop sessions and up to $30,000.
Where to apply: https://www.startglobal.org/start-fellowship
GreenPal Business Scholarship
GreenPal offers scholarship worth $2,000 for ‘Tomorrow’s Entrepreneur’. The mentorship programme is for students who have a start-up or have a business plan and are looking for guidance and funds. The scholarship offers funding and support to students every year. The allocated funds need to be utilised for higher education in US-based institutes.
Who can apply: Students who own a small business or have a business plan while still in college can apply.
Selection Procedure: Applicants will be selected for their business plan, however, they will also have to be enrolled in high school or college in business or related stream and have a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
Where to apply: https://www.yourgreenpal.com/scholarship
Savvy Fellowship
This is an online mentorship programme in which candidates will be trained for 12 weeks, and will be taught about starting, building, and scaling a venture. They will also be given tailored mentorship based on the stage of their start-up. Further, the post fellowship support in form of tips and updates will also be offered.
Who can apply: Candidates having an idea can apply for the fellowship regardless of caste and geography. The age bracket preferred is from 18 to 40 years.
Selection Procedure: Candidates at the different stages of their entrepreneurial journeys can apply for the fellowship.
Where to apply: https://savvyfellows.com/apply/
Buddha Fellowship Programme
The mentorship programme aims to offer guidance to those working in developmental areas. Any start-up working to fill-in gaps in fields such as agriculture, livelihoods, health, and environment among other developmental areas can apply. This is a non-residential programme, and fellows will meet six times over a period of 24 months. They will get guidance and mentoring from experts and access to labs and facilities, connection with rural communities, and linkage with funding opportunities.
Who can apply: Candidates having a start-up in developmental field which directly supports vulnerable communities can apply for the programme. Preference will be given to women, Dalit, and tribal entrepreneurs. While anyone can apply, those in the age range of 22-30 years will be preferred.
Selection Procedure: Every year, only 15-20 fellows are accepted. Candidates are selected based on their ideas, and skills, and the immersion and pilot testing of the idea in the first phase followed by second stage where they have to set up and run an enterprise in partnership with an organisation.
Where to apply: https://www.thebuddhainstitute.org/campaign/
Beyond Fellowships
Not just the government colleges or premium IITs and IIMs, many private universities and colleges are also known for their incubators.
LPU scholarship for innovation start-up and entrepreneurship, Amity Innovation Incubator by Amity University, Amrita Technology Business Incubator by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development in Hyderabad are some of the popular ones.
Apart from full-time fellowships, there are also many competitions renowned internationally for student entrepreneurs such as University Startup World Cup, Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition, Global Student Entrepreneur Awards, Edison Awards, Xylem Global Innovation Challenge, Start-up Wheel among others where students from across universities, streams and age groups can participate.
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