The Growing Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in India: Innovation in Action

Madhukar Shukla XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, India Madhukar [at] xlri.ac.in Gerard Farias Silberman College of Business, Fairleigh Dickinson University, USA Gfarias [at] fdu.edu Tata L. Raghuram XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, India Raghutata [at] xlri.ac.in 2012 Research Colloquium on Social Entrepreneurship

Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship University of Oxford (July 16-19, 2012)

Objectives
To conceptualize the Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in India To identify and map the constituent organizations of the ecosystem in India To identify inter-relationships and gaps in the ecosystem

Caveats
This is a work-in-progress Focus (at this stage) is on Finding and Mapping Not on Analysis and Conclusion In that sense, it is more about Search Not Research

Social Entrepreneurship in India Growth Trends

Conceptualizing Ecosystem
Ecosystem as Community of Practice (CoP):
A community of practice (CoP) is a group of people who share common concerns, problems, or passions for a domain, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise through interaction on an ongoing basis. (Wenger, McDermott and Snyder, 2002)

CoP is characterized by (Wenger, 1998):

Mutual Engagement: participation in community, establishing norms; collaborative relationships Joint Enterprise: shared understanding of the domain Shared Repertoire: set of community resources

Conceptualizing Ecosystem
CoP (Ecosytem) impact through (Lesser & Storck, 2001):
Decreasing the learning curve for new entrant Responding more rapidly to new market demands and challenges Reducing rework and re-invention of the wheel Spawning innovations

Ecosystems evolve around local contextual conditions (Isenberg, 2010)

Conceptualizing Ecosystem
Social ventures evolve through different stages; the support requirements from the ecosystem differ across stages.
we do need funding to scale up, but right now my challenge is to put the organizational systems and processes in place. the sector is at the stage for growth, but where is the pipeline of talent. we would like to expand the impact through partnerships across the regions. How do I locate the partners? Etc.

The Growing Ecosystem for Social Entrepreneurship in India - A Framework

The Societal Context Socio-Economic, Cultural and Legal Environment

Inspiration => Plan => Proof of Concept => Early Growth => Institution Building => Scaling Up

Social Entrepreneurial Venture (across life-stages)

The Growing Ecosystem for Social Entrepreneurship in India - A Framework

The Societal Context Socio-Economic, Cultural and Legal Environment
Sowers of Seed -Learning Journeys -Youth Fellowships -Campus Clubs -Competitions

Inspiration => Plan => Proof of Concept => Early Growth => Institution Building => Scaling Up

Social Entrepreneurial Venture (across life-stages)

Sowers of Seeds - Examples

Emergence of platforms which provide youth and young social entrepreneurs with transformative experiences, early-stage mentoring and role-models, e.g.:
Jagrity Yatra (Journey of Awakening) National Social Entrepreneurship Forum Spark the Rise Villgro Fellowship, Gandhi Fellowship, Piramal Fellowship, etc. PMs Rural Development Fellowship

High conversion rate through these experiential exposures

www.jagritiyatra.com

www.sparktherise.com

The Growing Ecosystem for Social Entrepreneurship in India - A Framework

The Societal Context Socio-Economic, Cultural and Legal Environment
Sowers of Seed -Learning Journeys -Youth Fellowships -Campus Clubs -Competitions Pipeline Creators -Academic Courses - Non-Academic Courses -Incubators

Inspiration => Plan => Proof of Concept => Early Growth => Institution Building => Scaling Up

Social Entrepreneurial Venture (across life-stages)

Pipeline Creators
Introduction of large number of academic programs/ courses and incubators during last 4-5 years
Full academic programs: Tata Institute of Social Sciences (2007), Deshpande Foundation (2012), PRADAN-Ambedkar University (2012), Entrepreneurship Development Institute (2008), etc. Courses as part of a program: IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIFM, XLRI, XIM Bhubneshwar, etc. Non-academic programs: ICICI Fellows, Swaraj University, etc. Incubators: Villgro Innovation Foundation, RTBI (IIT Madras), Deshpande Foundation, etc.

The Growing Ecosystem for Social Entrepreneurship in India - A Framework

The Societal Context Socio-Economic, Cultural and Legal Environment
Sowers of Seed -Learning Journeys -Youth Fellowships -Campus Clubs -Competitions Pipeline Creators -Academic Courses - Non-Academic Courses -Incubators Early Supporters -Philanthropic Capital - Angel Investors

Inspiration => Plan => Proof of Concept => Early Growth => Institution Building => Scaling Up

Social Entrepreneurial Venture (across life-stages)

Life-cycle of growth and investment/ funding

Philanthropic Angel Capital Venture Founded Grant/Seed Investment

Growth Capital Initial Investment Private Equity/ Project Funding

Time/ years

Early Supporters
Very few organisations & with limited reach/ scale, e.g.,
StartUp!, Dasra, UnLtd, etc.

Provide support through mentoring and network support; very little through seed capital funding
National Knowledge Commission, 2008

The Growing Ecosystem for Social Entrepreneurship in India - A Framework

The Societal Context Socio-Economic, Cultural and Legal Environment
Sowers of Seed -Learning Journeys -Youth Fellowships -Campus Clubs -Competitions Pipeline Creators -Academic Courses - Non-Academic Courses -Incubators Early Supporters -Philanthropic Capital - Angel Investors Late Supporters -Investors -Funders/ Grant-makers

Inspiration => Plan => Proof of Concept => Early Growth => Institution Building => Scaling Up

Social Entrepreneurial Venture (across life-stages)

Late Supporters
Old grant-making organisations:
Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, etc.

Emerging ecosystem of social investors with niche sectors:

Aavishkaar (Rural Innovations); Acumen Fund India (Education and Health); Song Advisors (Education); Villgro (Rural/ Agribusiness); Elevar Equity, etc.

Providers of technical support along with financial support

The Growing Ecosystem for Social Entrepreneurship in India - A Framework

The Societal Context Socio-Economic, Cultural and Legal Environment
Sowers of Seed -Learning Journeys -Youth Fellowships -Campus Clubs -Competitions Pipeline Creators -Academic Courses - Non-Academic Courses -Incubators Early Supporters -Philanthropic Capital - Angel Investors Late Supporters -Investors -Funders/ Grant-makers

Inspiration => Plan => Proof of Concept => Early Growth => Institution Building => Scaling Up

Social Entrepreneurial Venture (across life-stages)

Emerging Supporting Structures Technical Support Providers

- Start-up Consultancy - HR support Research & Advisory

Technical Support Providers

Start-up consultancy
Innovent, Start-up!, etc.

HR Support
Boutique social sector recruitment firms: Third Sector Partners; Opportune Jobs; Jobs for Good, etc.

Research and Advisory

Nascent stage of academic research; few research grants for social sector focused studies Specialized organisations, e.g., Intellicap, doing some applied research

The Growing Ecosystem for Social Entrepreneurship in India - A Framework

The Societal Context Socio-Economic, Cultural and Legal Environment
Sowers of Seed -Learning Journeys -Youth Fellowships -Campus Clubs -Competitions Pipeline Creators -Academic Courses - Non-Academic Courses -Incubators Early Supporters -Philanthropic Capital - Angel Investors Late Supporters -Investors -Funders/ Grant-makers

Inspiration => Plan => Proof of Concept => Early Growth => Institution Building => Scaling Up

Social Entrepreneurial Venture (across life-stages)

Emerging Supporting Structures Technical Support Providers Network Support

- Start-up Consultancy - HR support Research & Advisory

- Aggregators

- Conferences

Network Support
5 annual national level practitioner-focused conferences since 2009
Intellecaps Sankalp Forum, Khemka Foundations Forum on SE, Villgros Unconvention, ACCESS Devs Livelihood Conference, & XLRIs NCSE

Online Aggregators:
NGO MarketPlace, IndiaNGO, Sanhita, etc.

Provide commons space for SEs, Investors/ Funders, supporters, volunteers, academics, etc., to connect, and form partnerships

The Growing Ecosystem for Social Entrepreneurship in India - A Framework

The Societal Context Socio-Economic, Cultural and Legal Environment
Sowers of Seed -Learning Journeys -Youth Fellowships -Campus Clubs -Competitions Pipeline Creators -Academic Courses - Non-Academic Courses -Incubators Early Supporters -Philanthropic Capital - Angel Investors Late Supporters -Investors -Funders/ Grant-makers

Inspiration => Plan => Proof of Concept => Early Growth => Institution Building => Scaling Up

Social Entrepreneurial Venture (across life-stages)

Emerging Supporting Structures Technical Support Providers Network Support

- Start-up Consultancy - HR support Research & Advisory

- Aggregators - Conferences Advocacy Support -Sectoral Bodies -TiE

Advocacy Support
Critical for providing an enabling policy and regulatory framework for social ventures Very nascent and sector-specific, e.g., micro-finance, energy, etc.
TiE, NEN Formation of National Association of Social Entrepreneurship (April 2012)

The Growing Ecosystem for Social Entrepreneurship in India - A Framework

The Societal Context Socio-Economic, Cultural and Legal Environment
Sowers of Seed -Learning Journeys -Youth Fellowships -Campus Clubs -Competitions Pipeline Creators -Academic Courses - Non-Academic Courses -Incubators Early Supporters -Philanthropic Capital - Angel Investors Late Supporters -Investors -Funders/ Grant-makers

Inspiration => Plan => Proof of Concept => Early Growth => Institution Building => Scaling Up

Social Entrepreneurial Venture (across life-stages)

Emerging Supporting Structures Technical Support Providers Network Support

- Start-up Consultancy - HR support Research & Advisory

- Aggregators - Conferences Advocacy Support -Sectoral Bodies -TiE Media

Media
Increasing role in mainstreaming social entrepreneurship Coverage of SEs in mainstream media
CNBC TV18s Young Turks, NDTVs Unstoppble Indians, MTVs Youth Icon, Outlook Business annual issues on 25 Good Businesses, etc.

Dedicated online publications

TheAlternative, ThinkChangeIndia, YourStory, etc.

Learning and Next Steps

Nascent but rapidly emerging ecosystem (significant constituents emerged during this work!) Largely youth-led and youth-focused Most support organizations themselves are young social ventures Significant knowledge-gaps about whos who? doing what? among players in the ecosystem Next step:
Identify the relationships among the constituents Assess the nature of their impact across the life-cycle of the ventures

The Growing Ecosystem for Social Entrepreneurship in India - A Framework

The Societal Context Socio-Economic, Cultural and Legal Environment
Sowers of Seed -Learning Journeys -Youth Fellowships -Campus Clubs -Competitions Pipeline Creators -Academic Courses - Non-Academic Courses -Incubators Early Supporters -Philanthropic Capital - Angel Investors Late Supporters -Investors -Funders/ Grant-makers

Inspiration => Plan => Proof of Concept => Early Growth => Institution Building => Scaling Up

Social Entrepreneurial Venture (across life-stages) Emerging Supporting Structures Technical Support

- Start-up Consultancy - HR support Research & Advisory

- Aggregators - Conferences Advocacy Support -Sectoral Bodies -TiE Media

Network Support