VMPL
Gurugram (Haryana) [India], September 24: The Indian startup ecosystem has come a long way in the past decade. From small beginnings in tech parks and cafes, it has now produced unicorns, decacorns, and global brands. But as the ecosystem matures, a glaring gap remains: who prepares the next generation of founders? Who equips the 22-year-old dreamer from Varanasi, Jaipur, or Indore to take an idea and build it into a company of consequence?
That question is what gave birth to the Indian Startup School (ISS); a first-of-its-kind institution founded by Shivang Slathia, an alumnus of VIT Vellore. Positioned as a school of the future, ISS is not another management institute or accelerator. It is a deliberate attempt to reimagine how founders are shaped in India: through structured bootcamps, residency programs, mentorship networks, angel investing access, and a deeply community-driven approach.
In a significant development, Luke Talwar, top 43 Capitalists of India 2021 by Entrepreneur Magazine and best known for his role in the World Startup Convention, has announced his backing of Indian Startup School along with his childhood friend and Gurugram real estate mogul, Akshay Batheja and CA Ayush Gupta from EY (Ernst & Young).
"The startup dream in India is huge, but the support systems are fragmented. ISS is about building an institution that first-time founders can trust, where they learn by doing, by pitching, by failing fast, and by being part of a larger ecosystem. We are creating serious founders, not just participants in the hype cycle," says Shivang Slathia, Founder of Indian Startup School.
Slathia's own journey explains much of ISS's philosophy. Educated at VIT Vellore, he was immersed in the startup ecosystem early on, and quickly saw the gaps between academic theory and the realities of building companies in India. ISS is, in many ways, his response to that experience: a school where entrepreneurship is taught not as a subject, but as a practice.
Adding weight to ISS's ambitious plans is the support of Luke Talwar, who has been associated with large-scale startup events in India. Talwar's decision to back the ISS signals confidence in its mission and in Slathia's leadership.
"India's future is entrepreneurial, and institutions like ISS are exactly what the ecosystem needs. This is not just a school, it's a movement. Shivang's clarity and seriousness convinced me to back him. If we want India to truly be the startup capital of the world, we need more founders coming out of places like ISS," said Luke Talwar.
His backing is positioned not as a takeover, but as an endorsement of ISS's direction. The partnership blends youthful vision with ecosystem experience, a combination that many believe will be critical for ISS as it scales.
Unlike traditional incubators, ISS is designed to operate more like a university for entrepreneurs but one firmly rooted in practice. Its initiatives include:
-The Growth Residency: A six-month program where validated startups are taken through intense sprints to become investor-ready.
-Angel Network & Pitch Days: Direct access to capital through curated pitch sessions and investor meetings.
-Founder-First Curriculum: Designed not by professors, but by practitioners, investors, and founders.
-The Investor School: A program focused on educating new and aspiring angel investors on how to identify, evaluate, and support early-stage startups.
-Young Entrepreneurs Club: Members only exclusive networking meetups, Peer accountability pods, alumni networks, and ongoing founder-to-founder mentoring.
In a crowded startup ecosystem where noise often outweighs signal, ISS is trying to set a new standard: one of credibility, seriousness, and long-term thinking. With India poised to add thousands of new startups in the next five years, the role of such institutions may well become decisive.
Slathia sums it up best:
"We are not building ISS for today. We are building it for the India of 2030, 2040, 2050. The founders who walk through our doors will be the ones building companies that define the next era of this country. That's the responsibility we carry, and that's the future we are committed to."
The Indian Startup School is still young, but its ambitions are unmistakably bold. With a strong founder in Shivang Slathia, strategic support from Luke Talwar, and a philosophy centered on first-time entrepreneurs, ISS has already positioned itself as a potential cornerstone of the ecosystem.
As India looks to consolidate its status as the world's largest startup hub, ISS's experiment will be closely watched, not just as a school, but as a bet on the future of Indian entrepreneurship itself.
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