Having lived most of his life in Mumbai, Karimnagar native Raj Janagam is a social entrepreneur and a co-founder of the Cycle Chalao initiative. While working for the same, he was an “investee” of UnLtd India. As the initiative didn’t scale enough in Mumbai, Raj thought of moving to Hyderabad to start an affiliate of UnLtd India here called UnLtd Hyderabad.
“I felt that the experience of building a social entrepreneurial ecosystem would be far more fulfilling in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,” says Raj. The NGO conducts social entrepreneurship activities in Hyderabad through funding as well as non-funding activities. Currently, looking into 10 projects in the state, Raj explains the work process of UnLtd Hyderabad.
“You can say, we are looking for the next Amul here. Like Amul which started off on a small scale, it is important to reach out to entrepreneurs who are working for social ventures. UnLtd works as a launchpad for them,” says Raj. UnLtd Hyderabad gives Rs 80,000 as initial funding to those who are at the “idea” stage. Others who are a little more advanced can get up to Rs 2 lakh. On being asked whether the investees have to pay back the sum, Raj says it is “voluntary”.
However, Raj says that the funding is the least important part of their work. “The non-funding activities have five stages that are, coaching, connecting with corporate mentors, skill building, peer learning sessions and donor meetings,” he says.
It was just six months back, that they started the incubation process under Sreekala Sarojini. She is their incubation manager who has more than 20 years of experience with start up businesses. “As part of our non funding activities we make sure that the entrepreneurs are on the right track. On the 1st Friday of every month we have a peer learning session where the investees meet and exchange ideas as well as discuss their challenges.”
Talking about how they raise donations, Raj says, “We approach corporates who have CSR budgets and explain how they get to be a part of the process. There is complete transparency as the investees also get to meet the donors at various forums.”
