Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship trains aspiring entrepreneurs through academic and pre-incubation programs.
5550+
Students trained1470+
Students mentored670+
Venture teams created127
Startups initiated
People
The team at the Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship (DSSE) comprises Institute faculty, Adjunct faculty, Post-doctoral fellows, Project Managers and Mentors. With the intent of creating a rounded academic unit focussing on academics, research and practice, the Institute faculty are drawn from academia and industry – the first Professors of Practice at IITB were recruited for DSSE in 2021. Starting 2023, DSSE recruited core faculty members whose research is in the areas of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. DSSE has had adjunct faculty from entrepreneurship, mentoring, and industry backgrounds, who since inception have been instrumental in teaching practice-oriented and experiential courses. With the start of its research program in 2024, DSSE also welcomes Post-Doctoral fellows from eminent institutions and aligned research interests. DSSE’s project managers co-ordinate the academic and experiential programs and are always available to students for mentoring. The Post-Graduate Committee includes inter-disciplinary faculty members who guide and review various activities of the School. Mentors are drawn from the alumni community to coach and support course project teams as well as pre-incubation teams.
Academics
The Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship offers in-campus academic programs as well as serves the larger entrepreneur and researcher community through short term workshops and online courses. Academic Programs include a newly-launched PhD Program in Innovation & Entrepreneurship and elective courses offered to UG, PG and PhD Students. DSSE offers 20 theory and lab courses which are extremely popular with the student community and are developed keeping the student-entrepreneur needs. These courses include foundational learning, specialist courses and a capstone course preparing them to register a startup. Students need 30 credits to complete a Minor as per IITB rules, and for an Entrepreneurship Minor, they can take 24 credits from ENT courses and 6 credits from adjacent disciplines like Management, Economics, Design and Humanities. DSSE offers popular online courses on the NPTEL platform for college students to learn Business Fundamentals and gain credits. DSSE has launched online MOOC courses for student and mid-career aspiring entrepreneurs to develop entrepreneurial skills and mindset. The online courses go beyond the IIT Bombay student community. DSSE also offers short-term workshops for researchers (translational research), working professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs (intra and entrepreneurship).
Pre-Incubation Programs
The entrepreneurship courses are complemented by experiential learning in various aspects of product innovation and business lifecycle through structured pre-incubation programs offered by DSSE, which are supported by alumni and partner organizations. The key programs are the IDEAS Program for early-stage venture creation and WIE Women in Entrepreneurship Program.
Startups
More than 100 start-ups have been established by students exposed to entrepreneurship through DSSE courses and Pre-incubation programs. These include startups in domains like Healthcare, Consumer-tech, AI/ML/SAAS, Agritech, Edtech, Cleantech etc.
Reserch & Publications
GenAI for Business: Insights from India
GenAI has moved from being an experimental idea to a business necessity for Indian organisations. Companies are no longer limited to pilot projects or proofs of concept. The focus has now shifted to real-world implementation to improve productivity and gain competitive advantage.
We are pleased to share our new white paper, GenAI for Business: Insights from India, published by the Desai Sethi School of Entrepreneurship (DSSE), IIT Bombay. The paper examines how Indian organisations are adopting GenAI, and the key opportunities and challenges they face in this transition.
The study combines recent literature with 30 in-depth interviews with AI implementation agencies, consultants, startup founders, business leaders, and policymakers. Based on these insights, the paper also presents a practical framework for thinking through GenAI implementation. This framework acts as a roadmap for organisations to assess readiness, identify use cases, and move from experimentation to scaled deployment.
As India continues to strengthen its position as a global digital leader, it is important to understand how local challenges intersect with large-scale adoption. This paper offers clear and actionable insights for policymakers, industry practitioners, and researchers to support a responsible and inclusive shift towards an AI-driven economy.
Authors:
- Dr. Lina Sonne Vyas, Associate Professor, DSSE, IIT Bombay.
- Vrushank Arur, Project Research Assistant, DSSE, IIT Bombay.
Access the full White Paper here: