IIM Bangalore’s NSRCEL collaborates with Buddha Fellowship Program to offer a Rural Entrepreneurship Incubation Program
The program aims to transform the development sector in terms of scale with quality and impact
19 July, 2021, Bengaluru: NSRCEL, the innovation and entrepreneurship hub of IIM Bangalore, and Buddha Fellowship Program (BFP) are collaborating for a joint Rural Entrepreneurship Incubation Program.
The pandemic has resulted in the loss of lives and livelihoods. Reverse migration has exposed the harsh realities of rural India with MSMEs and farmers being amongst the worst hit. The pandemic also saw the development sector, with NGOs and other social enterprises, rise to the occasion, with government and corporate organizations acknowledging and lauding their contribution in education, food distribution, relief work, healthcare, livelihoods and farmer and rural issues. The magnitude and complexity of these socio-economic challenges that India faces cannot be solved in silos. Although there are organizations working to bridge this gap, the problem lies largely unsolved and requires interventions at scale and collaboration at a multi-stakeholder level.
The rural entrepreneurship ecosystem and home-grown entrepreneurs have been overlooked and they face a lot of scalability challenges due to lack of knowledge and awareness on marketing, branding, quality standards, value chain creation, product innovation, to name a few. Efforts need to be made to empower rural entrepreneurs to solve rural problems and scale those who can sell to urban consumers.
NSRCEL, the start-up hub at IIM Bangalore, whose work has impacted over 115600 entrepreneurs, and the Buddha Fellowship Program’(BFP) incubated in Self Reliant Initiatives through Joint Action (SRIJAN), have joined hands to co-create and build an incubation program to develop the rural entrepreneurship ecosystem. The BFP already has a unique program and many of its successfully graduated Buddha fellows are working in the areas of horticulture, agriculture, dairy, nutrition, gig economy skills, supply chain management, in the under-developed districts of the country.
The Rural Entrepreneurship Incubation Program aims to transform the development sector in terms of scale with quality and impact by attracting and harnessing India’s best and brightest talent and create an ecosystem to nurture, support and provide opportunities for these professionals to pursue their aspiration to become development entrepreneurs, and in turn build the future of India that is modern and inclusive for its less privileged and marginalized communities.
Applications are now open here https://bit.ly/RuralIncubation
“NSRCEL, like many incubators or accelerators, was urban focused. This pandemic exposed us to the vulnerabilities in our system, especially regarding the need to have a sustainable and inclusive development of ‘Bharat’. Rural entrepreneurship, which is in its nascent stage, holds tremendous potential in our quest to build lives and livelihoods towards a more self-reliant nation. Our focus will be to support entrepreneurs who are already operating in rural areas as well as to provide opportunities for those who want to return to their roots to make an impact,” said Professor Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Chairperson, NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore.
Ved Arya, Founder and Director of the Buddha Fellowship Program, said, “BFP is pleased to collaborate with NSRCEL to build on young Indians’ entrepreneurial dreams to solve problems of rural poverty and make our country self-reliant or ‘Atmanirbhar’. BFP’s mission is to groom 1,000 Buddha Fellows and impact the lives of five million people over the next ten years.”