Landscape of entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is the fast emerging as a transformational trend for the 21^st centuries given to its capacity to reshape economies and industries throughout the world. As key drivers of economic growth, entrepreneurs are becoming lifeblood of any expanding economy, generating jobs, introducing new products and services and promoting greater upstream and downstream value chain activities.

Entrepreneurship depends upon the social and political conditions in which it operates. Entrepreneurship in any country depends upon the social and political conditions in which it operates. These can encourage or constrain a new business and have an impact on its growth into a more established enterprise that generates incomes and jobs.

The IEEE Future Networks Entrepreneurs’ Mentorship (FNEM) program

The IEEE Future Networks Entrepreneurs’ Mentorship (FNEM) program is a global program sponsored by Future Networks seeks to support the upcoming, proof-of concept, first time entrepreneurs, early-stage and growth stage technological entrepreneurs (hereinafter referred as ‘technological entrepreneurs’, or ‘Mentees’) from within and/or outside IEEE community in creating technology-driven business that impact humanity. IEEE FN Entrepreneurs’ Mentorship program connects technological entrepreneurs with experienced mentors to accelerate their business, increase their growth metrics, achieve greater impact and prepare them for later stage investors.

IEEE FN Entrepreneurs’ Mentorship program aims to provide technical skills and mentorship support along with a variety of other critical support such as financial, business, marketing, education and others to maximize their potential, accelerate the growth of their organization, deliver high-impact value, stimulate long-term economic growth and produce environmental and social benefits.

IEEE FN Entrepreneurs’ Mentorship (FNEM) program compliments and strengthens IEEE OUs including Standards Association (SA), IEEE Entrepreneurship (ENT), Women in Engineering (WIE) and challenges such as Connecting the Unconnected (CTU), Empower Billions, Internet for All (I4A), IEEE Micro Mentoring Experience Program, etc. to foster technology, innovation and proliferate technology-driven businesses.

The IEEE FNE Mentorship program enables ‘technological entrepreneurs’ to access subject experts, able to build successful business models, networking with investors, creating communication plans, scalability strategies, facilitating in creating pitch decks and fruitful negotiations, technical guidance and insights, design thinking processes, marketing assets and knowledge. IEEE FN Entrepreneurs’ Mentorship program also facilitates technological entrepreneurs to access the IEEE network, partners and standard associations and allows them to participate in global events and networking opportunities.

The IEEE FNEM offers 1000 days of Learning, Action, Mentorship and Practice (LAMP) journey to technological entrepreneurs giving flexibility to these entrepreneurs to decide their own entrepreneurial mentorship journey. The Pilot phase of the program will be launched in India and the Phase – I will be implemented in East Africa region.

Who we support?

The IEEE FNE Mentorship Program focuses on mentoring to ‘technological entrepreneurs’ with a focus on developing technological-led innovations and/or products/solutions in a field of engineering catering to various sectors that cannot enhance the access of technology but also be reliable, scalable and impact the lives of people socially and economically living in less developed countries, or in rural areas of developed nations. Solutions that include hardware or services and applications that can better meet social needs such as agriculture, livelihoods, health, education, information technology, climate change, disaster management, power and energy, smart grid and beyond that operating in less developed countries or in rural areas of developed nations. The IEEE FNEM program is for:

Approach

FNEM is part of the IEEE FN Technical Community Education Committee with oversight from the Mentoring Working Group. The IEEE FN Entrepreneurs’ Mentorship program selects mentors, and invests in ‘technological entrepreneurs’ who are solving real-world problems in economic opportunities.

The IEEE FNEM offers 1000 days of Learning, Action, Mentorship and Practice (LAMP) journey to Mentees giving flexibility to these entrepreneurs to decide their own entrepreneurial mentorship journey. This 1000-days of journey is a nurturing, mentoring and pre-acceleration program for technological entrepreneurs, enabling them to acquire various skills for the growth of their businesses.

In a nutshell, IEEE FN Entrepreneurs’ Mentorship program aims to support entrepreneurs in their ‘idea to market’ journey and create a pathway for ‘technological entrepreneurs’ in acquiring seed funding or next investment. The IEEE FN Entrepreneurs’ Mentorship program ensures that technological entrepreneurs enter the market ready with product/solution aligning with the IEEE core purpose of advancing technology for humanity.