The program, launched in Rajkot by Mehul Rupani, the president of the Gujarat chapter of JIO, aims to encourage entrepreneurs and help existing businesses grow. 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 necessary, just like you have to do an MBBS to become a doctor, study engineering to become an engineer and take a nursing course to become a nurse. Level Next aims to fill this training gap, providing seed capital of up to Rs 20 lakh to deserving candidates for launching startups and then helping them find a market for their products,” Rupani said.

While IIMA will offer a one-year certificate course called Business Level Next, which aims to help existing businesses grow, EDII will offer Entrepreneurship Level Next, a one-year certificate course aimed at helping people to become entrepreneurs. Although there is no course fee, a candidate will have to pay Rs 2,500, a one-time registration fee, for each course.