n/core selects 10 nonprofit startups to incubate –...

12/10/2017 N/Core selects 10 nonprofit startups to incubate – N/Core – Medium

https://medium.com/@ncore_in/n-core-selects-10-nonprofit-startups-to-incubate-6b946cd99631 1/7

N/Core Follow

incubator for nonpro�t startups solving our biggest challengesSep 1 · 5 min read

N/Core selects 10 nonpro�t startupsto incubate

Last few weeks have been really exciting for us as we opened

applications for our N/1 cohort, o�ering 6 months of incubation, an

innovation grant of INR 10 Lakhs and a unique opportunity to be

personally mentored by renowned industry leaders. Founders of social

change, across India and the world sent us their vision, business plan

and thought provoking ideas that can make substantial changes in the

lives of millions still living in poverty. As we sifted through 1032

applications from 2654 entrepreneurs from 19 countries, we found an

increasing in�ow of highly talented and motivated entrepreneurs to

solve for poverty in India — which is such a positive trend!

Images haven’t loaded yet. Please exit printing, wait for images to load, and try to print

again.



The applicants included graduates from institutions such as IITs, IIMs,

ISB, NIT, JNU, Harvard University, Stanford University, Princeton

University, Yale University, INSEAD, University of Maryland, NUS

Singapore, Oxford, and many more. They are also eager to work on a

wide spectrum of issues related to poverty in India and make a visible

di�erence.

Here’s a look at the 10 selected early stage nonpro�ts and the problems

they are trying to solve:

Foundation for Environmental Monitoring

Focus area: Water

Millions of Indians in economically backward areas lack access to clean

drinking water. Regular consumption of contaminated water results in

chronic health issues, lost wages etc., further aggravating poverty.

Foundation for Environmental Monitoring (FEM) is deeply committed

to deliver low cost, highly accurate technology to measure quality of

water. By making the solution open source, they have also ensured that

the cost of technology continues to be a�ordable.

2. Sushrat Foundation

Field of work: Healthcare

1.



India has a 70% higher patient-to-doctor ratio than the WHO

recommendation. This load on the medical system is further

exacerbated by operational ine�ciencies in a hospital. Trained medical

sta� spend much of their time in administrative and redundant tasks.

Sushrat Foundation, a healthcare nonpro�t works to make hospital

administration more e�cient in government hospitals by using lean, six

sigma and kaizen methodologies. Going beyond creating a blueprint

for e�ciency, the organisation has piloted implementation of the

changes on the ground, with the help of Fellows trained on business

process transformation.

3. Project Potential

Field of work: Livelihood

In Bihar, the more educated you are, the more likely you are to be

unemployed, with over 25% of college graduates currently unemployed

— compared to 2.5% for those who have completed primary school and

8.4% for those who have completed middle school. Project Potential is

working towards alleviation of unemployment, currently in the state of

Bihar by inculcating an entrepreneurial mindset in communities

engaged in a wide range of livelihoods.

4. Saarthi

Field of work: Parental Education



Children from impoverished backgrounds bear a huge competitive

disadvantage of not having su�cient parental participation in their

education. Saarthi Education, is on a mission to transform parents’

involvement in their child’s development. The Saarthi model of

providing both content as well as its delivery to parents in low income

communities is showing de�nitive signs of positive impact, in early

pilots.

5. Anahad Foundation

Field of work: Livelihood & folks music

Despite immense talent and a heritage of profound art, the Indian folk

musician struggles to make a living from his/her art. Music is a multi-

billion dollar industry but folk artists remain on the fringe, eking out a

living as street performers. Anahad, a pioneering nonpro�t has a

mission to “revive, research and innovate music as a driver of change to

rejuvenate the society”. It functions as a record label, producing

unheard cultural folks which can bring a positive impact on the society.

6. NavGurukul

Field of work: Livelihood

The rise of the Indian software industry has had a signi�cant

contribution to the rise of the Indian middle class. However, the talent

entering the sector has been gated by requirements of formal

education, primarily a degree in engineering. This has excluded the

bottom of the pyramid from access to jobs in the growing tech sector.

NavGurukul is working to teach software engineering skills to

underprivileged young adults, irrespective of their formal educational

baselines. Their innovative model is based on self-learning and

experimentation.

7. Sukhibhava Foundation

Field of work: Menstrual Hygiene

Sukhibhava, is tackling the large-scale problem of lack of awareness

and a�ordability of menstrual hygiene solutions for women in low

income groups. Their innovative model empowers microentrepreneurs



in communities to proliferate adoption of safe menstrual hygiene

practices.

8. The Education Alliance

Field of work: Education

While the government has largely addressed the problem of access to

primary education, a large number of government schools lying under-

utilised across India. The Education Alliance is a nonpro�t working

towards improving student learning in government schools through

public-private partnership.

9. Volunteer for Justice

Field of work: Democratizing Law

Over 3 crore cases await justice in courts across the country, on any

given day. With average pending cases of 3 years in high courts and 6

years in subordinate courts, this translates to justice denied to the most

marginalized and disadvantaged groups. Volunteer for Justice aims to

create a pro bono culture in the Indian legal system and uphold the

constitutional mandate to provide every citizen with access to justice.

Volunteer groups of legal professionals o�er their services by way of

legal advice and mediation, and if needed, representation in courts.

10. Akshar Foundation

Field of work: Education — North-East



Akshar Foundation is an award-winning nonpro�t organisation

operating in Assam with an innovative, business-oriented approach to

education. Serving a community of stone quarry workers that has

experienced multi-generational illiteracy, the Akshar team has

developed a tiered teaching model that encourages older students who

have achieved a faster progression to teach younger students. This

model enables Akshar to operate at a 1:100 teacher to student ratio,

and helps students to fast track their learning through teaching.

The 6- month incubation program begins 11 Sep, 2017 in Bangalore.

Our plan is to incubate 100 nonpro�ts over the next 5 years, by

incubating around 10 such startups twice every year. For more details

visit ncore.thenudge.org

n/core selects 10 nonprofit startups to incubate –...

Documents