Over the last decade, the Indian consumer story has been transformed by digitisation and disruption. Over 700 million internet users are opening new frontiers for India’s new-age, catalytic entrepreneurs. While the Indian consumer economy has grown by leaps and bounds, the Indian inclusion story still leaves much to be desired.
The country takes a lowly 131st rank on the United Nations Human Development Index. Poor-quality healthcare, below-standard education delivery, unfulfilled credit needs, disempowered rural populace, and a glaring gender gap. These are some critical areas that have been discussed and debated ad nauseam, and are now starting to get the attention and disruption that they deserve.
While innovators and entrepreneurs are now working to address the challenges of poverty, diseases, climate change and inequity. For these high-impact innovations to progress from incubation labs to commercial markets, the flow of risk capital is not just necessary, but imperative. To be clear - the usual risk-return investing cannot be the yardstick here, impact-first has to be the approach.
Having said that, the pandemic's call to action has turned the wind. Over 300 impact enterprises raised nearly $7 billion last year, as per the Impact Investors Council report. Technology is bringing change, but driving impact at scale needs greater investment and a lot more patience.
As India marks its 75th year of independence, CNBC-TV18 spoke to Sushma Kaushik, Partner at Aavishkaar Capital; Neelam Chhiber, Founder at Industree and Manoj Kumar, Founder at Social Alpha to examine the inclusion playbook and discuss what the road ahead looks like.
Watch the video for more.
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