YES Bank to fund start-ups at EDII

Entrepreneurship education and incubator, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), on Friday announced tying up with the private sector lender, YES Bank, to finance start-ups supported by the institution.

Under the tie-up, seen as the first such initiative at EDII, YES Bank will provide a loan of Rs 50 lakh to EDII supported start-up, Green Ideology, under the CGTMSE programme (Credit Guaratee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises).

Founded by Abhishek Lodha and Neerja Lakhani in 2013, Green Ideology has introduced India’s first premium organic antimicrobial lingerie brand ‘Inner Sense’.

Dr. Sunil Shukla, Director, EDII said, "For many years, EDII has been mentoring and supporting start-ups, especially those founded by alumni of our institute. But, our ability to lend to these start-ups was minuscule as we are an educational institute. Now, in association with YES Bank, EDII is in a position to provide debt to more start-ups whom we support in various ways."

"Additionally, EDII’s recently set up technology business incubator, Centre for Advancing & Launching Enterprises (CrAdLE), will also nurture start-ups in the fields of manufacturing, food/agri business, renewable energy and healthcare," Shukla further added.

Rana Kapoor, Managing Director and CEO, YES Bank, recognised the importance of start-ups for the growth of the Indian economy as they create job opportunities in addition to contributing to economic dynamism by spurring entrepreneurship and innovation. "As an extension of our YES Head-Startup programme, we are pleased to collaborate with EDII to help start-ups scale up and grow rapidly, thereby, creating a multiplier effect on the Indian economy," said Kapoor.

Green Ideology had initially received a grant of Rs 5 lakh from the Gujarat government, acting through its nodal institute EDII, to commence its operations and launch its product range. With the Rs 50-lakh debt funding from YES Bank, the start-up can now scale up its operations.

Elaborating on their business strategy, Abhishek Lodha of Green Ideology said, "It was difficult at first to explain the concept of the ‘organic and antimicrobial’ inner-wear range to our customers. Our first collection had only eight styles and today we have more than 60 styles under our brand Inner Sense. Apart from our own e-commerce portal, our products are available on all major e-commerce sites. We are also selling our products in the US, UK, and Malaysia."

With funding support from YES Bank, the start-up plans to increase its width and depth in products and categories.

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