Mumbai : Salaam Bombay Foundation (SBF) in close collaboration with the School of Business Management, NMIMS conducted the second edition of ‘Dolphin Tanki’ – the flagship platform of the Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Incubator for Grassroots Adolescents. Through platforms like the Entrepreneurship Incubator and Dolphin Tanki, SBF is able to provide resource challenged alumni entrepreneurs (aged 16 – 20 years) with mentorship, business acumen, capital access and market linkages. Out of the 13, 8 of the most promising business pitches were awarded financial support of up to INR 40,000 each. 5 entrepreneurs were awarded support of INR 7,500 each as their sheer grit and determination won the jury over. This edition of Dolphin Tanki has gone multi-city with entrepreneurs from Mumbai and Pune participating.
The prized jury consisted of Anisa Gupta, Brand Manager, Nykaa, Tanvir Qazi, Vice President Customer Service – Home Solutions, OneAssist Consumer Solutions, Rahul Borges, Lead Photographer, Genesis Photography for the semi-final round; and Anees Khan, Founder, Star Anise Fine Foods & Leisure Pvt. Ltd, Jaideep Khurana, Founder & CEO, Vôtre, Trumount Cosmoceuticals Pvt Ltd, Vipul Mathur, Business Consultant and Former CEO, Eureka Forbes and Rohan Jha, Director – Bollywood & Pop Repertoire, Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd for the final round. Rahul Mirchandani, Chairman & Managing Director, Aries Agro Limited was the guest of honour. The event was also graced by Aditi Shrikam, Chief Financial Officer, Malabar Bay and Dolphin Tanki Investor; and Om Shrikam, a Florida based successful adolescent entrepreneur who has been a source of inspiration to the entrepreneurs participating today.
Gaurav Arora, Vice President – Projects, Salaam Bombay Foundation said, “Government programmes and the entrepreneurship ecosystem focuses on youth aged 18 years and over. While some of our beneficiaries showcase a prowess to set up businesses and seek self-reliance, they lack skill sets and opportunities to establish and scale their businesses. Converting these gaps to opportunity, SBF has recognised that these beneficiaries (16-20 years) are a pool of untapped talent and therefore launched initiatives like the ‘Entrepreneurship Incubator’ (July 2021) and ‘Dolphin Tanki’ (March 2022) ensuring that these adolescent entrepreneurs are not hampered by marginal stumbling blocks and are instead provided with sufficient opportunities via credible sources. Till date, around 25 entrepreneurs have participated and benefitted from Dolphin Tanki and we would like to expand this further.”
Dr. Meena Galliara, Director, Jasani Center for Social Entrepreneurship & Sustainability Management, SBM, NMIMS said, “There is a unique confluence of circumstances – a tough economy, increasingly competitive market, and technological shifts which impact the job market. One of the ways to get young people into the labour market is by promoting adolescent entrepreneurship. Besides providing vocational training to Municipal school children, Salaam Bombay Foundation (SBF) provides the much-needed eco-system to create a culture of innovators and entrepreneurs through its incubator support. We at the School of Business Management, NMIMS, are delighted to collaborate with SBF for the Dolphin Tanki initiative. It is a game changer for contestants and for our MBA students too! While contestants are empowered to think big, be self-reliant, and create jobs, our MBA students are able to sharpen their skill sets and develop appropriate social perspectives. We have been a part of the Dolphin Tanki journey since the beginning. We look forward to mentoring many more of SBF’s determined homegrown adolescent entrepreneurs as they take their businesses to the next level.”
The 5 winners from Dolphin Tanki’s first edition have already earned on average INR 37,504 during the first seven months of receiving support. Winners like Pooja Gupta and Bushra Ansari who set up home based beauty businesses have invested the funding into upgrading skills via training support and material to enhance their services. They have also been applying their entrepreneurial skills learnt via the incubator including utilising social media to reach a wider customer base. Pooja recently has been marketing her beauty services to women in upscale neighbourhoods, ready to bring her business to people’s homes.
Till date, over 100 adolescent entrepreneurs have been nurtured via the Entrepreneurship Incubator since its launch in July 2021. Trained beneficiaries (SBF’s vocational skill development programme) showcasing a potential to earn are selected for the Incubator. As first steps, they are nurtured, groomed, mentored (by industry experts, established entrepreneurs), and taught business acumen. They are also introduced to critical strategies like digital marketing and digital payments. As and when these entrepreneurs are ready to scale their businesses they are mentored and groomed by students from the School of Business Management, NMIMS via the ‘We Care – Civic Engagement Internship’ program. The entrepreneurs are then ready to pitch at Dolphin Tanki. Post winning, the entrepreneurs continue to receive handholding guidance and support from SBF.
