IIMA Ventures Launches Growth Accelerator 2.0 to Support Up to 15 SMEs

Startup incubator IIMA Ventures has announced the launch of Growth Accelerator 2.0 to support 15 SMEs and family businesses. Designed to drive growth for SMEs, family businesses and startups in the growth, strategic growth and innovation phases, the programme comprises various knowledge sessions, masterclasses, workshops, founder talks, diagnostic panels and mentoring clinics to operationalise growth opportunities.

Founded in 2002 as an entrepreneurship hub at IIM Ahmedabad, IIMA Ventures researches, educates, incubates, accelerates and invests in early-stage startups, aspiring entrepreneurs and investors.

Chintan Bakshi, Partner-Incubation, IIMA Ventures, says that the Growth Accelerator has been developed in response to the major gaps in the Indian SME business ecosystem. “Despite being the engine of economic growth for the country, most SMEs are not able to leverage important innovation tools for rapid, exponential growth. Adapting to emerging technologies, business process optimization, management tools, frameworks like lean startup and business modeling can also enable small and medium enterprises like startups to identify growth opportunities and build scale,” he says.

For established businesses, achieving rapid growth requires not only resources but also the ability to effectively execute strategies. Experimenting with new approaches—whether streamlining operations, integrating scalable technology, or building sustainable competitive advantages—often involves high costs and significant risk, with no guaranteed return. Growth Accelerator helps provide a structured, supportive environment for business leaders to develop and test new growth strategies.

Participants will begin their journey with a three-day intensive bootcamp at the IIM Ahmedabad campus, which will include workshops and scaling-focused sessions led by IIMA faculty. Successful entrepreneurs will also share practical insights on scaling their businesses. Over the next two months, participants will benefit from personalized mentoring from domain experts to help them address specific challenges related to growing their businesses.

Talking about the selection criteria, Bakshi adds that the selection process for the current cohort is ongoing. “Our selection criteria focuses on whether the company has achieved some validation of its business model, has consistent sales and equally importantly, whether the entrepreneurs are committed to experimenting with change. We thoroughly evaluate the entrepreneurs who are committed to consciously working with us to properly identify and double down on growth areas,” he says. The Growth Accelerator is open to business leaders from all sectors, including second- and third-generation entrepreneurs looking to scale their operations. The Growth Accelerator, which is conducted annually, starts in mid-October this year. The first batch of the accelerator has supported 10 companies. The founders hail from various industries like engineering, auto components, FMCG, furniture manufacturing, agri-equipment and vocational training. They are based in cities like Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Indore and Jamshedpur, with most hailing from smaller non-metro areas. In 2023, participants created growth plans aimed at increasing their business by 5 to 10 times, focusing on strategies specific to their industries.