Two business development programmes, I-Cube by Nepal Communitere and Rockstart Impact by One to Watch, both of which aim to support entrepreneurship development in Nepal, have kicked off in the capital on Wednesday. The programmes that focus on business development, will incubate and accelerate high potential Nepali companies for growth, and eventually groom them for investment.

I-Cube, which will incubate 12 entrepreneurs for a year, and Rockstart Impact, which will enrol 10 entrepreneurs for their fourth iteration of the annual 100-day programme, are working in partnership with Accelerator Nepal.

Accelerator Nepal is a not-for-profit company with the primary objective to support the development of an entrepreneurship friendly environment in Nepal.

Rockstart Impact and I-Cube will support early stage innovators and entrepreneurs with methods and knowledge that will help them understand how they can realistically scale.

These programmes, supported by DFID, will provide entrepreneurs with critical coaching and mentoring and link them to domestic and international growth capital.

“The development of Nepal is at a point where SMEs are playing the role of a leader, an inspirer, and, a provider. We want to contribute as partners in this quest that these truly brave entrepreneurs have started," says Willem Grimminck of Rockstart Impact.

“We want to be able to fill a gap within the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Nepal by providing business incubation services to promising entrepreneurs and set them up for success,” says  Bahar Kumar of Nepal Communitere.

Rockstart Impact has accelerated 29 companies, from which 20 have secured investment pledges, raising over three million Euros in investments, since 2014. Nepal Communitere is a Makerspace and innovation hub designed around the idea that a disaster can become a catalyst for innovation. Over 20 social impact organizations, community initiatives and entrepreneurs have utilised the Nepal Communitere Resource Center to address diverse needs.

The applications for both programmes are available online at Rockstart Impact’s website and will close on October 5.