{E SCHOOL} THE RURAL SCHOOL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Photo credit: Studio Ek Saat
WE LAUNCH AND SCALE SOCIAL VENTURES THAT CREATE LASTING IMPACT
KNOW MOREAZAD FOUNDATION & SAKHA CONSULTING WINGS PVT LTD
Livelihoods with dignity for urban poor women
Photo credit: Azad Foundation
WE LAUNCH AND SCALE SOCIAL VENTURES THAT CREATE LASTING IMPACT
KNOW MOREITIHAAS
Indian traditions and heritage initiative
Photo credit: Itihaas
WE LAUNCH AND SCALE SOCIAL VENTURES THAT CREATE LASTING IMPACT
KNOW MOREAIACA
Policy, entrepreneurship training and marketing for small craft producers
Photo credit: AIACA
WE LAUNCH AND SCALE SOCIAL VENTURES THAT CREATE LASTING IMPACT
KNOW MORE
BASIC HEALTHCARE SERVICES (BRAND: AMRIT CLINICS)
Photo Credits: Leah Grossman
ABOUT US
START UP! IS AN INCUBATOR, ACCELERATOR AND LEADERSHIP SPRINGBOARD FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS.
We seed and scale ventures that create lasting impact in excluded communities.
As INCUBATE, We work with early-stage social entrepreneurs to launch ventures that create deep impact. We also incubate incubators!
As ACCELERATE, We facilitate growth-stage social entrepreneurs to scale their models and drive large-scale systemic change.
AS NURTURE LEADERS, We train and coach leaders for the sector, who are as yet unrecognized and untapped.
OUR WORKING PRINCIPLES
Privilege the entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs excite us more than ideas. Our partners and clients bring strong domain expertise and business lessons from previous entrepreneurial/ intrapreneurial journeys. We learn continuously from them, even as we co-create their business models.
Match passion with process
We match the entrepreneur's energy and passion with process, plans and the discipline for executing ideas. For us, execution, not ideas, is game changing.
Stay frugal, stay in the field
We work with our investees in their fields. We immerse in the markets of the models we shape. By being in the field, we get a 360 degree view of the eco-system of the ventures we create. This enables us to predict volatilities. We therefore launch ventures that are true to the DNA of our partners and the needs of the markets they serve.
Iterate to succeed
We coach our investees to listen to customers, re-iterate assumptions and stay focused on metrics. We constantly adapt business plans to keep them real and sharp. Our questioning of assumptions and reality checks at every turn minimizes trial and error. This ensures that ventures launch with a higher degree of success.
Get the chemistry right
We succeed more with entrepreneurs who are listeners, learners and collaborators. We work with social entrepreneurs who actively seek feedback and are open to applying them in their ventures.
Cross pollinate
We pollinate learnings and connections between early-stage ventures (that we launch) and mature-stage models (that we accelerate). This opens up rich collaborations between the two. Our investees and clients constantly feed new information, networks and linkages into our own eco-system. This growing viral enables us to become better linkers and connectors for social entrepreneurs.
Image source: Leah Grossman
OUR MISSION
- Launch social ventures in a way that
they can scale - Scale social ventures in a way that they
generate impact - Seed first-generation social entrepreneurs in last-mile communities
- Catalyze the influence and resources of business, government and media towards fostering many more social ventures
HOW WE WORK
PROJECTS
OUR INVESTEES
OUR INCUBATEES
OUR CONSULTING PROJECTS SEE ALL
-
SCALING UP
-
RESEARCH & KNOWLEDGE GENERATION
-
TRAINING & FACILITATION
-
DUE DILIGENCE FOR FELLOWSHIP & AWARDS
SCALING UP
OUR SERVICES
- Mapping creative routes for scaling models
- Strategic planning
- Business plan development
- Building robust operations and people resources
- Developing replication toolkits
CLIENTS
- Anjali – Mental Health and Human Rights Initiative
- Arthink South Asia
- Azad Foundation & Sakha Consulting Wings Pvt. Ltd.
- Childline India Foundation
- Itihaas
- Khoj International Artists Association
- The Tata Trust
- Study Hall Education Foundation
- Swayam
- Swayam Shikshan Prayog
- Shri Jagdamba Samiti
- Talaash
SMITA VATS | Founder-Director
"Start Up! partnered with Itihaas to translate our work, vision and values into a viable and balanced five-year business plan. Over a year of intense engagement, they helped define areas which we had not recognized as strategic levers. Often their understanding of our model was better than ours, therefore adding value far beyond what we had envisaged.
RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE GENERATION
OUR SERVICES
- Conducting market research for new products and services
- Conducting impact assessments
- Building standards for the field
VIVEK MANSUKHANI | Director, Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program India
"Start Up! carried out an impressive quantitative and qualitative evaluation project to assess the impact of our unique fellowship program in India over the last decade. We found the Start Up! team to be dynamic, sharply focused, committed, full of ideas and good energies. They were highly effective in studying and capturing the story of our program and our fellows with great clarity, insight and enthusiasm. Collaborating with Start Up! has been a hugely pleasant and rewarding experience."
CLIENTS
- Aajeevika Bureau
- Childline India Foundation
- Ford Foundation's International Fellowships Program
- Gray Matters Capital
- International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW)
- PRADAN
- Toxics Link
TRAINING AND FACILITATION
OUR SERVICES
- Strategic planning trainings
- Team building trainings
- Curating and facilitating retreats and networking events
CLIENTS
- Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
- ArtThink South Asia
- British Council
- National Association of Social Enterprises (NASE)
DUE DILIGENCE FOR FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
OUR SERVICES
- Designing and conducting marketing and outreach
- Managing end-to-end due diligence processes
- Anchoring communication with all stakeholders
- Ensuring high quality jury presentations
- Managing media relations
Image source: Web - http://goo.gl/o2Rpd8
AJAY KHANNA | President – Strategy & Public Affairs, Jubilant Bhartia Group
"We cherish our engagement with Start Up! With their support, we have been able to generate a robust pipeline of applicants and ensure high quality due diligence for the Jubilant-Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award in India, year-on-year."
CLIENTS
- India Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award – hosted by Jubilant Bhartia Foundation and Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
- Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
ACCOMPLISHED! SINCE 2009
115+
Social ventures incubated and scaled
200
Immersive projects delivered
350+
Emerging leaders trained
17
States of operation
20
Insights reports published
12
Awards & Fellowships Managed over Multiple Years
6
Accelerator programs designed and led
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OUR TEAM
Taveesh Pandey
Director (non-executive)
An alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad, Taveesh has more than 30 years of experience in the Indian financial, corporate and start up sectors. He has played a leading role in institutions such as IFC, CRISIL, and the SUN GROUP.
Taveesh is the Founder-Director of Black Diamond PE Advisors, a New Delhi-based corporate venture and financial advisory firm that advises companies at the Board, strategic leadership, and operating levels to help them scale up, establish systems, recruit people etc. He also advises early-growth and mid-size companies to create value.Taveesh offers hands-on CXO services to entrepreneurs and provides an array of services to HNIs.
Taveesh is now playing an increasing role in mentoring social entrepreneurs and shaping institutions of the future within the field of social entrepreneurship.
LinkedIn
Manisha Gupta
Founder and CEO
Manisha was a journalist before she joined the social entrepreneurship sector. For 30 years, she has studied, chronicled, and contributed to shaping the eco-system for social entrepreneurship in India.
Manisha served as the India Country Representative and International Director at Ashoka: Innovators for the Public where she worked for ten years. Before launching Start Up! she consulted with leading Indian and international non-profit organizations and philanthropies.
Manisha has co-authored two books, 1098- Childline Calling and Opening Doors – Ten Years of Ford Foundation’s International Fellowships in India. She served as the regional representative for the Ford Global Fellowship Program. Manisha is a passionate believer of creating deep impact through lean teams.
LinkedIn
Swati Awasthy
Senior Consultant
For over 20 years, Swati has worked with leading non-profits as a researcher, trainer, and communications specialist.
As a mass communications graduate, Swati strayed into the development sector, ‘partly by design, but mostly by default’. She has worked in the sectors of education and youth work, delivering leadership roles in organizations such as Pravah and 1 Million for 1 Billion.
Mentoring young people, designing and facilitating curriculum, and telling stories of organizational impact keep Swati moving, thinking, growing, learning.
LinkedIn
Paramita Saha
Partner, Special Projects
Paramita is a performer, curator, and arts manager, based in Kolkata. For more than 10 years, she has designed strategic programs and partnerships that intersect between the worlds of art, business and social entrepreneurship. She has worked tirelessly to integrate art, movement and dance into social change processes, especially education and environmental sustainability.
Paramita co-founded ArtsForward, an organization that drives creative advocacy for environmental sustainability, and fosters artistic ability in the youth. At Start Up! she drives our storytelling and fellowship programs.
LinkedIn
Anindita Mazumdar
Partner – Gender and Leadership
Anindita brings to Start Up! 20 years of experience in gender, rights and grassroots governance systems. For 12 years, she served in various leadership roles in Swayam, a leading organization that works to end gender-based violence.
Anindita is the founder and trustee of Equidiversity Foundation, which seeks to build rural women’s leadership in politics and local governance. She is an Ashoka Fellow and recipient of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP).
At Start Up! Anindita designs, advises and guides our programs on gender and leadership.
LinkedIn
Divya Nissi
Senior Program Manager
Divya has 12 yearsof experience in the non-profit sector, with expertise in project management, fundraising strategic communications, and incubating social enterprises.
She has worked in the sectors of child-focused community development, rural development, education, gender rights, anti-human trafficking, and social entrepreneurship. Divya designed and led a unique social business that opened up livelihoods with dignity for survivors of sex trafficking.
With an engineering degree in Bioinformatics from VIT, Vellore, and an MBA from the London School of Business and Finance, Divya is also an avid storyteller. She actively contributes to national television, to advocate for the empowerment of women.
LinkedIn
Satish Kumar
Operations and Finance Manager
Satish worked in the health care sector and with Delhi Police before he joined Start Up! Today, he is our go-to person for accounts and office administration. He maintains our office premises, runs an efficient travel desk, and ensures smooth daily accounts and finance management.
With eight years of experience, Satish is a self-learner to the core. He has learned the details of finance and office management through online courses and every resource that he can avail of on the job. Satish has graduated from Delhi University in liberal arts.
LinkedIn
Rachel Thomas
Consultant - Strategy and Leadership Development
With 12 years of professional experience in the development sector, Rachel has worked in leading non-profit organizations such as Pratham and a funding agency focussed on the child rights and education domains. Through her career span, she has designed and facilitated capacity-building trainings, led organizational assessments, and steered partners to develop and implement sustainable child rights strategies. With a Master's degree from the Delhi School of Social Work, Rachel brings to Start Up! a strong suit of project management, monitoring, and evaluation skills.
FELLOWSHIP
WE RUN AN ACTIVE THREE TO SIX MONTH FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMME FOR INDIAN AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND YOUNG PROFESSIONALS WHO ARE KEEN TO WORK WITH LEADING SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS OF INDIA
Our Fellows, quickly become part of projects that take them to the field,
and enable them to problem solve actively with our clients. Fellows also build out new initiatives and processes for Start Up!
Start Up! has hosted Fellows from leading academic institutions of Europe and the US. These include Booth School of
Business (University of Chicago); Stephen M. Ross School of Business (University of Michigan); Fletcher School (Tufts University); Princeton University;
School of International & Public Affairs (Columbia University); University of California, Berkley; HEC School of Management, Paris; and ESSEC, Paris. We recruit Fellows through the year, on a rolling basis.
Click on the arrow to view our fellows
CONTACT US
ADDRESS:
E 109, Second Floor, Kalkaji
New Delhi 110019
CALL US ON: 011 40540722
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"Start Up! conducted a process evaluation in the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) across Uttar Pradesh. They were quick to develop a sound understanding of our program and devise a long-term scale strategy for us. The Start Up! team is thorough and goes the extra mile to ensure the highest quality output. Most importantly, they continue to extend their support after the closure of the project and do not lose any opportunity to add value. We look forward to working with them in the future."