TechSangam

Eight defining milestones in India's social enterprise ecosystem

Vishy KurugantiJanuary 25, 20144 mins

[Editor’s Note: This post was 95% complete on Oct 31, 2013. After all, it was largely copy-paste so why did it languish for two months in the Drafts folder? I intended to post a critique of the…

Poor leap-frogging the rich?

Vishy KurugantiApril 04, 20132 mins

The 1600 INR Pollinate lamp (Pic courtesy theatlanticcities.com) Just read an intriguing Mother Jones article on the adoption of solar power in India’s slums. The two solar startups profiled in the…

Building India through Enterprise – Meera Sanyal's Jagriti Yatra Story

Vishy KurugantiMarch 24, 20134 mins

Pic courtesy meerasanyal.wordpress.com A year ago I had a brief encounter with a young SELCO employee (Nikhil Nair – NN) following a scintillating chat with Harish Hande. Outside in the parking lot…

SELCO Labs announces sustainable energy challenge

Vishy KurugantiJune 30, 20122 mins

Pic: courtesy solar-green-wind.com Earlier today, I read a tweet from SELCO’s official account that talked about a sustainability energy challenge launched under the umbrella of SELCO Labs. SELCO Labs…

Two bright lights in India's Impact Investing Landscape

Vishy KurugantiJune 05, 20122 mins

Pic: courtesy wikia.com The two bright lights in India’s impact investing landscape are Harish Hande’s $10 million fund for sustainable energy enterprises and Khosla Impact. Sustainable Energy Fund…

Social Enterprise Jobs in India – Who's Hiring?

Vishy KurugantiFebruary 29, 20123 mins

Pic: courtesy socentex.com A few months ago, a 2nd year MBA student from Mumbai (let’s call him “Nikhil”) emailed me asking for advice/leads on the social enterprise sector. Nikhil had some exposure…

Selco's Harish Hande raising $10 million to fund sustainable energy enterprises

Vishy KurugantiJanuary 23, 20122 mins

Dr. Harish Hande, Founder & Managing Director (Selco) - Pic courtesy selco-india.com Selco Solar’s Harish Hande was one of the standout acts at the recent Villgro conference on social enterprises…

Color of money

Vishy KurugantiDecember 16, 20112 mins

Pic: courtesy katellora.tumblr.com A few weeks ago, I attended the two-day Unconvention 2011 – a social enterprise conference hosted by Villgro in Chennai. Nilima Achwal (Villgro Fellow) and I co…

Calling bullshit on Forbes' List of Top 30 Social Entrepreneurs

Vishy KurugantiDecember 05, 20113 mins

Pic: courtesy top-cartoons.de Normally I don’t pay much attention to Top [X] rankings. Maybe today was a slow news day. Maybe I just returned from Villgro’s Unconvention and am still chewing the cud…

The curious history of conditional cash transfers

Vishy KurugantiSeptember 15, 20114 mins

Brazilian Maria shows off her “Bolsa Familia” social plan card (Pic: courtesy guardian.co.uk) [Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in a series of six excerpts from chapter 4 (education policy) of Abhijit…

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