"The Hub"

Day 6

As we gathered in the loft of “the hub,” the ideas and excitement within the room were almost palpable. We first learned of Unlimited India from the co-founder herself, Ms. Pooja Warier. Her presentation crisp and well defined.

In the non-profit world, 9 of 10 ventures will fail. Most often there is initial support at the conceptual phase, then later, investment after three years of success. Support during those three in-between years is crucial. Ms. Warier and her colleagues understood this need and addressed it by creating Unlimited India, an organization that focuses financial and non-financial support for those who present a promising and original entrepreneurial idea.

There are three ways in which an entrepreneur in the non profit sector can make it to the three year success mark; procuring investment and backing from family and friends, producing quick results, having an attitude that will not easily give up on an idea. The first of these three listed avenues of success does not culturally fit the mold of India. In most families and circle of friends there exists little approval of social entrepreneurship. Beyond that, it is difficult to provide quick successful results especially for those who lack a background in organizing business models and budgets. This is where Unlimited India provides support and an avenue for success-they provide support for even the least experienced social entrepreneur.

Unlimited India specifically lends support during the first four years of the life phase of a social idea. This non-profit also provides funding anywhere from $15,000 to 45,000 and lastly, the physical space in which to come together as a team. The end goal of Unlimited India is to develop the culture of the social sector and action within the social sector-ultimately, the goal is to demonstrate that, according to Warier, “there is worth in investing in individuals who want to make change.” Unlimited India must first approve the individual and his or her plan before providing services. The team at UnLtd India will analyze the vision and resourcefulness of the individual to attract funds. The team will also gage the potential for the idea to create change and meet demand, and also determine whether the idea matches the person. Lastly, if the UnLtd India analyzes what they may bring to the idea, if they cannot add to what is donated then they do not agree to back the start of a potential client. A fundamental part of this filtering process is also determining whether the idea is already in works elsewhere. To elaborate, UnLtd India will conduct research to see if the idea of a potential client is already in existence-perhaps the most efficient move is to simply link the social entrepreneur with the bigger organization attempting to bring the idea to fruition.

In terms of operation, there are three phases;

PHASE 1: the identification of the social impact (this is when UnLtd funding is used only to invest in the project itself).

PHASE 2: Affirmation of effectiveness of the idea. At this point the entrepreneur is expected to work full time and a portion of the funding is used for salary.

PHASE 3: The development of the business plan. This is when the group of entrepreneurs is divided into those who can write a business plan and those who cannot.

In order to advance through these three phases UnLtd India provided personal coaching and monitoring, the representatives working with the entrepreneurial clients ask key questions to keep the project moving forward. Networking is also provided since most of these entrepreneurs work in isolation. UnLtd brokers relationships so financial issues can better be understood and managed. Workshops and clinics are set up to expand legal understanding and facilitate the meeting of like-minded entrepreneurs. UtLtd India uses peer learning and provides and expert panel to push the individual further with a set of individually issued stipulations.

The entrepreneur will have a meeting with a representative of UnLtd Inida one time per month and while the impact of the potential non-profit may be for all of India, it must be based out of Mubai in order to gain support form UnLtd. India. The entrepreneurial motivation cannot be religious or political in nature and the loan repayment must be made within 3-5 years.

UnLtd India is funded domestically and globally through individual and corporate donations. This organization is truly impressive because it has successfully and critically teased out major reasons behind social entrepreneurial failure within the period of 0-4 years of start up. Providing financial as well as non-financial support is smart and necessary. “The Hub” truly did provide a great space to generate ideas for social change, I have a feeling all that is needed is time.

Our next meeting was with representatives of the Acumen Fund. This non-profit invests in direct and indirect spheres of influence. However, there must be potential for social impact, financial sustainability, scalability, and a committed management team. The Acumen Fund has $60 million invested worldwide with $25 million invested in India alone. The three investments for India are in the education sector, clean water, and electricity. The key problem is not simply how to fill the need for education, water, and electricity, but also how to do so on a consistent basis.

One example includes Lifespring Hospitals. These are a chain of low cost maternity hospitals. At these hospitals, women may receive care for a normal delivery, cesarean section if necessary, and even gynecological surgeries such as a hysterectomy. Government care is free in India, but the quality of this care is seriously lacking. Many Southern Asian women undergo cesarean sections because complications develop in their first deliveries due to poor care. By providing quality labor and delivery care at low cost, the health outcome of labor and delivery has the potential to greatly improve. Developing a plan to maintain the cost effectiveness of this venture is essential, whether by sharing the management or heightening marketing the cost of care must be kept low to achieve success.

The end of these meetings also marked the end of our time in Mumbai. It was a full circle ending to our site visits-these meetings in “the hub” were the first we had truly been fed of social entrepreneurs in action.

Tomorrow, we fly to Delhi…