INCLUSIVE INNOVATION: How to Address the Yawning Gap in India's Social Impact Sector

In today’s charged socio-economic climate, corporates, startups, and individuals aren’t just paying lip service to words like poverty and inequality. They don’t want to be on the sidelines of creating a positive social impact for those at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP). They want to be the humane change-makers, heralding a new way of solving age-old societal issues-- right from the frontlines. They want to be risk-takers who would go beyond making profits to improve the lives of the underserved, thereby empowering low to middle-income groups to lead dignified lives.

- RAVI NARAYAN

CREATING SOCIAL IMPACT FOR INDIA’S UNDERSERVED SEGMENT

India’s poor and vulnerable social strata—the aspirational class that includes cooks, drivers, waste pickers, and domestic help— represent a key opportunity area for social entrepreneurs to make a real difference in the innovation ecosystem. According to a recent study, 34 percent of these strata are aged between 10 and 25 years and aspires for a better life. It’s about time social changemakers start tapping into India’s aspirational class, who are tomorrow’s neo middle class. Understanding this under-served stratum is key to unlocking the potential of the Indian economy.

Thankfully, there is a new breed of impact investors that cater to the aspirations of the lower-middle-class and focuses on pockets of opportunities that would enable the latter access to a better quality of life and improved livelihoods. Take for instance the Aavishkaar Group, a key player in India’s impact ecosystem. The organization has been working for two decades to nurture social entrepreneurs committed to building an inclusive and sustainable future for the country’s marginalized communities. Aavishkaar’s impact-focused entrepreneurship model funds social enterprises in the rural, low-income markets in sectors such as sanitation, healthcare, education, water, and livelihoods support.

TECHNOLOGY AS AN ENABLER