27 entrepreneurs from Ludhiana selected for Xcelerator programme

With an aim to support small and medium entrepreneurs in improving their productivity, efficiency, and profitability and scale their businesses faster, 27 entrepreneurs from the district have been selected under the Xcelerator programme launched by Punjab finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal and chief secretary Vini Mahajan through video conferencing during an event organised at Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU) complex in Focal Point area on Tuesday.

The Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME) in partnership with the government’s department of industries and commerce and CICU commenced the Xcelerator Ludhiana programme, which is a six-month business accelerator programme to support 27 promising mass entrepreneurs in the Rs 2 crores to 50 crores annual revenue category, which were selected out of over 450 applications received under the programme.

“Ludhiana has been chosen as the first location for this programme because of the entrepreneurial energy which exists and the potential to create a model that can be replicated across Punjab and the rest of the country. The high caliber of the entrepreneurs chosen to be part of Xcelerator Ludhiana and their success we hope will inspire a thriving entrepreneurial environment,” said Ravi Venkatesan, founder, GAME and former chairman of Microsoft India and Bank of Baroda.

Venkatesan said that the Xcelerator programme has been inspired by the ‘Scale Up’, by CEO of entrepreneurship policy advisory and former professor at Harvard Business School Daniel Isenberg, which has been implemented in other developing and developed countries such as Colombia, Brazil and the USA.

“The entrepreneurial spirit of Punjab is well known and, in the last few years, we have made consistent strides towards a more business-friendly environment in the state,” said Manpreet Singh Badal.

Vini Mahajan said, “This programme is an important step towards amplifying the entrepreneurial dynamism and enabling a conducive entrepreneurship ecosystem for the growth of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Punjab.”