IIM Sambalpur & Flipkart Join Hands To Support Small Businesses, Artisans

Bhubaneswar: Flipkart and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Sambalpur on Saturday announced a partnership to support and promote small businesses, artisans and weavers by leveraging technology, e-commerce platform and market insights.

An MoU to cement the partnership will be signed in the next few weeks.

The unique partnership, announced on National Handloom Day, will see IIM Sambalpur and Flipkart leveraging their expertise and knowledge to create an operational framework to support under-served communities. They will be helped to build capacity and enhance market reach.

Flipkart executives will share their operational knowhow, market and consumer insights, besides exploring opportunities to enable pan-India market access for products made by these entrepreneurs, MSMEs and artisans through its marketplace.

“Our partnership with Flipkart and the e-commerce industry will help strengthen the spirit of entrepreneurship by creating opportunities to leverage technology and accelerate growth for small businesses and artisans,” said IIM Sambalpur Director Prof Mahadeo Prasad Jaiswal.

“By combining institutional learning and practical industry experience, we aim to provide entrepreneurs best practices and deeper insight on how to leverage e-commerce for their growth. We are hopeful that weavers, artisans and farmers will leverage this opportunity to showcase their skills and high-quality traditional heritage products to a national consumer base and reach new heights and recognition,” he added.

Flipkart Group’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Rajneesh Kumar spelt out his company’s role in the partnership.

“As a homegrown company, we aspire to leverage locally developed world-class technology to create a positive impact in the lives of countless entrepreneurs and underserved communities from across India leading to inclusive economic growth. Our team’s expertise, technology, learnings and insights serving a pan-India market will come very handy for MSMEs, artisans and the Indian handicraft industry through this partnership with IIM Sambalpur. At Flipkart, we believe that entrepreneurship is essential to creating more local jobs across the ecosystem and are committed to growing an inclusive digital e-commerce ecosystem,” said Rajneesh.