SINGAPORE - The Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) is pumping S$50 million into supporting entrepreneurship, and is kicking off its efforts with a programme to help aspiring entrepreneurs start with an idea and graduate with a business.

SIM will "adopt a multi-pronged approach to eventually include initiatives to facilitate business start-ups, help small businesses scale up as well as fund promising ventures", said the private educational institution.

It is starting off with a programme called Platform E, which will train entrepreneurs, incubate ideas and help bring products to market.

Platform E will launch in April 2017 with two tracks - a 12-month and a four-month programme.

The longer programme is aimed at fresh graduates new to entrepreneurship or people looking for a career switch, while the shorter programme is for entrepreneurs who need help with roadblocks or scaling up their businesses.

"Platform E will equip the entrepreneur not just to run his own businesses but to also take on the role of an intrapreneur within an organisation," said Mr Alan Wong the chief executive of Platform E.

Platform E will be located at a 25,000 sq ft space in SIM Management House on Namly Avenue, which will also be rented out as commercial co-working space to non-programme participants.

Besides Platform E, SIM's S$50 million investment will also go towards supporting start-ups mainly at pre-seed and seed stage.

SIM will also look for opportunities to invest in promising start-ups and small businesses keen to scale-up, it said.