A Sneak Peek into the rise of Indian Social Impact Startups

A software that ensures a doctor is always present in a hospital, a digital platform that helps farmers sell directly to restaurants, canteens, hostels, etc., a digital wearable that tracks the health of mothers and children, and a solar ATM which provides clean water in underdeveloped areas. 

These are some of the recent innovations which have taken the Indian startup industry by storm. 

These social-impact startups are coming up with unique solutions to solve India’s age-old problems while still finding a way to scale their business and stay profitable. They work in every sphere — from water to health, agriculture to energy, pollution to education, and much more. 

Let’s take a closer look at the impact that these startups have created in these sectors:

1. In order to provide sustainable business models to small farmers, DeHaat has created an online platform that connects small farmers with micro-entrepreneurs, supplying different farm inputs and other services. It helps to create forward and backward linkages to the farmers so as to minimise their cost and time of finding the right buyers for their products and sellers for agricultural inputs. This startup supports 150 micro-entrepreneurs who serve over 50,000 farmers across three states, providing over 520 agricultural inputs.

2. According to studies, there is only one ophthalmologist for every 60,000- 65,000 people in India, which implies that rural India suffers from an acute risk of blindness going undetected. The founders of Forus Health developed portable retinal eye imaging devices that can be used easily even by someone who is only class 10-educated. The enterprise has served two million people in 25 countries, completed its Series A & B funding from Accel and Chiratae Ventures, and raised $13 million.

3. Gurugram-based Swajal is a WaterTech social impact venture that manufactures and assembles water ATMs that provide clean water at economical prices. Founded by IIT alumni, it manufactures its systems locally in India and follows a B2G (business-to-government) and B2B (business-to-business) model. It serves everyone from premium hotels like JW Marriott to rural areas; hospitals to railway stations and hospitals to corporations. It has been instrumental in reducing India’s dependence on plastic bottles. It has already raised its Series A funding of $1.6 million from Rajasthan Asset Management Company Pvt Ltd through RVCF III-India Growth Fund. 

According to McKinsey, impact investing in India reached $5.2 billion between 2010 to 2016. Despite the tremendous inflow of capital in the social impact industry, an enormous challenge for these organisations is to maintain a balance between sustainability and profitability. They need the right mentorship from industry experts and professionals who can help them achieve financial stability while creating social impact. The government and private sector should consider working hand in hand to avoid overlapping and duplicating costs. This synergy will definitely go a long way in maximizing social impact.

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