US Consulate General Kolkata launches program to boost entrepreneurship

The US Consulate General Kolkata in collaboration with a social enterprise, Contact Base, has launched a youth entrepreneurship initiative — Y4BIZ (Youth for Business) — in the city “to support a promising group of 50 young entrepreneurs”. The website for the initiative — http://www.Y4Biz.com — was launched on Tuesday.

According to a statement issued by the US consulate, the Y4BIZ program “aims to support a promising group of 50 young entrepreneurs, and transform their business ideas from the initial stage to a sustainable business model.” The 50 entrepreneurs will be selected through a screening process.

“A group of ten mentors will also be selected from eastern India and they will be trained at the Nexus Incubator Hub, which is housed inside the American Center in New Delhi. The mentors will work with the 50 entrepreneurs on a regular basis and through selected boot camps. Finally, the top 10 business ideas will be showcased at the American Center in Kolkata before industry leaders, investors and policy makers, to celebrate entrepreneurship and recognize the youth leaders. The top 3 business ideas will have the possibility of being incubated at the Nexus Incubator Hub in New Delhi American Center,” the statement said.

Director of the American Center and Public Affairs Officer of the US Consulate General Kolkata Jamie Dragon said, “Youth entrepreneurship development is a proven strategy that positively impacts the lives of young people. This project seeks to foster a culture of entrepreneurship in eastern India and to strengthen linkages between American and Indian youth leaders.”

Director of Nexus in the New Delhi American Center Erik Azulay said, “Nexus and the IC2 Institute of the University of Texas look forward to working with the American Center in Kolkata and Y4Biz to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in eastern India. We are glad to share our expertise in innovation and entrepreneurship with a partner such as Y4Biz which shares our vision and passion for supporting startups.”

The initiative has also been launched to celebrate the November 13-17 Global Entrepreneurship Week, and is part of a series of #RoadtoGES activities leading up to the upcoming Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES 2017) that is scheduled to be held from November 28-30 in Hyderabad. Organized annually since 2010, GES is the preeminent annual entrepreneurship gathering that convenes over one thousand emerging entrepreneurs, investors, and supporters from around the world. This year’s summit, hosted jointly by the United States and India, will be held for the first time in south Asia.

The theme for #GES2017 is “Women First, Prosperity for all,” and will focus on supporting women entrepreneurs and fostering economic growth globally. Ivanka Trump, Senior Advisor to the US President, will head the United States delegation to the summit.