Ikea is organising a 3-month bootcamp programme in India for 20 startups in the early stage of their businesses. The camp will run in the coming summer months starting March 25 till June. The aim is to bounce off ideas that the startups have, which can be used by Ikea to improve its product offerings, reports Inc42. At the same time, the programme will feature Rainmaking, a corporate innovation and venture development firm. The startups will get an opportunity to learn from Rainmaking’s experience in hand-holding of startups.
Twenty startups will be picked from the applications received, for which the window in now open and will close December end. The selection of the 20 preferred startups may begin in the New Year.
Ikea is on a downsizing mode globally but in the Indian context, it is actually the reverse with plans to absorb some 15,000 employees from the current level of 1,500. The Swedish home furnishing company has just entered India with its first store in Hyderabad and is in the process of expansing to other cities as well.
Ikea has issued a statement on this programme for Indian startups in which it has lauded the entrepreneurial spirit being demonstrated by the young Indian minds and how it hopes to capitalize on this abundant talent and ideas germinated here may be taken globally by the company. The company keeps looking at making the products it sells more affordable since the existing belief is it has an elite tag. The company looks forward to interacting with the startups in the camp next year with these objectives in mind.
In the words of Peter Betzel, the CEO of Ikea, “This is an opportunity to see where we can find new talents, new possibilities, and scale good ideas in order to be a partner for positive change”.
On the demo day of the bootcamp, the participating startups will make their presentations on what they feel they can do in future, working with Ikea. Its being called the ‘Demo Day’.